Copper Possession
by DymondGold
Summary: Sequel to Finite Incantantum: The Dark King shall have his revenge. His influence is yet present, affecting them all in different ways. How much is his protege willing to take to spite him and what will he do to drive away that maddening desire? Daisy/Luigi/Ludwig, Peasley and his fabulous self, very dark content in later chapters so beware...or be invited if you like that stuff :x
1. Chapter 1

**So this was long in coming, thanks for being patient :)**

**Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any thing related to the Super Mario Brothers Franchise or its affiliates. It belongs to Nintendo and its creators. I'm just taking some liberties for your enjoyment. **

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**Chapter One**

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Here it was. That weird green absurdity that served as one of many gateways between this world and mine. So odd with all its rust and luminescence, completely in sync with the rest of the elements in this country. Or Kingdom, I should say. I couldn't stop staring at it, or more specifically, the person sitting on it. Her legs were slung over the lip of the thing, bare and light was her skin so I knew the bits of crusted metal were biting into her thighs. She didn't seem bothered in the least. Not by that; no, her expression was only perturbed because of my hesitance. But I wasn't ready for this.

"Something wrong?" She asked quietly.

"...No." I reluctantly replied.

"Then what's the problem?" She prompted.

I said, "I just want you to know what you're getting into. This world is nothing like the one I come from. Things are so much better here."

"You're really gonna' say that," She spoke wryly, "after all that's happened?"

She did have a point there. This place wasn't all sunshine and smiles either, but it was the Dark King that ultimately made it a horrible land to be in. Now that he's been gone for nearly a month things have calmed down. Unlike in Brooklyn where it's pretty rough all year round. The people can be friendly, kind even, but it's the filthy scumbags that have me worried. I don't want this girl to become somebody's prey, not again.

"Come on before I change my mind," I sighed.

She grinned, being in a much more excited mood than I was. She'd been looking forward to the move. I tried to convince her to stay here, or in Sarasaland, in that short window of time after things started getting back to normal. The girl yet insisted on living in Brooklyn with me so I had to let her come and see what it was like. Maybe in a few months she'll see that it's not all it's cracked up to be and we'll be back here instead.

"Do you want me to go first?" She spoke softly.

I shook my head, saying, "No. It's better I go."

And without preamble I gripped the ledge and hopped down the unsightly green thing, landing much less clumsily than I would have months before. For that I did have Ludwig to thank, although I'd never swell his ego and tell _him _that. I gazed around and made a face. This place smelled like moldy breast and old yeast; fittingly so, since this was an abandoned bakery and all.

"Daisy?" I called up into the black void in the ceiling.

"Yeah?"

"Drop your stuff down!" I yelled.

She did and I caught the two large cloth sacks she had her clothes and things stored in. After I'd shouldered her luggage, I told her to come down as well. Her landing was different than mine in that I didn't let her feet touch the floor, not at first. I stopped her before she hit the ground and then set her down easy. She smiled at me, that smile was so beautiful, then she made a face.

"Where are we?" She asked.

She was the brightest thing in this room in her canary-yellow sundress with the cap sleeves and flowing, pleated hem. Her hair was down and pulled back on the sides with two barrettes that looked like little sunbeams resting in a sea of dark locks. She held her hand against her face in response to the awful smell.

"Sorry, this place has been shut down since the 70's." I informed her, "It's one of the few places with a gateway in New York though, so I kinda' have to put up with it."

Daisy nodded.

I reached for her hand and led her out of there, out through one of the previously boarded up doors in the back. From there I took her around to the front and waited for evening traffic to let up so we could cross the street.

"What are those?" She pointed.

"Cars?" I spoke, unsure if that was what she was talking about.

"And there are...people in them?" She asked upon further scrutiny.

"Yup."

I smiled at the cute way she was scrunching up her mouth and nose to see better.

"So those aren't strange animals?" She asked.

Now I had to laugh. "No, they're uh, they're like carriages. Except you don't need horses because they run on gasoline."

"Ah." She nodded, "I think I understand. But why are they so dirty?"

Daisy fanned her hand at the exhaust that came out of some of the cars pulling off at the green light.

"That's just how they work." I sighed.

I ran a hand through my hair and noticed for the umpteenth time that it was longer now. I'd have to cut it soon.

When the light turned red, I took Daisy's hand again and guided towards the bus stop. She was in awe of that too.

"There's so many people," She spoke aloud, "Is that...safe?"

"Not really, but it's convenient." I told her honestly.

I probably shouldn't have told her that much, because now she took her time getting onto it. I didn't know which deities I'd pleased today that allowed for us to reach the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up, but I was glad for it nonetheless. I didn't feel like waiting until night time to get to my apartment.

"Do you own one of those carriages?" Daisy asked once we got on.

After I paid the driver with a crumpled bill I sat down near the front. I wrapped my arm around Daisy's waist when she sat beside me.

"Those are called vehicles," I told her, "And yeah I have one, I guess. It's really not much of one."

She just smiled at that and leaned her head on my shoulder. I guess riding the bus wasn't much different at all from riding in a coach. She didn't seem on edge at all. The girl gazed out the window beside me and marveled silently at the people and stores and things she saw.

"This is us," I told her when our stop came up.

She and I left the bus and I ushered her over to my meager apartments complex. To my immense surprise, my car was still in the lot. It was there, un-tampered with, still raggedy and mine. That was a huge shock. I would've thought somebody might have hot-wired it, or at the least I figured my landlord would have it towed. Speaking of him.

"This way," I guided Daisy towards the stairs.

We had to pass under the tunnel with the mailboxes first, then we got to them. Black and skinny and losing its paint those flights of steps were, and we scaled them quickly. I mostly wanted to get this over with. I went straight to my manager's office and knocked.

And knocked.

And knocked again.

"You think he's gone out?" Daisy inquired.

"He never goes out," I murmured and thought, _the guy has no life. _

Sure enough, the door swung open and someone flew right into my arms. Somebody little and slim and reeking of vanilla.

"Sorry, I didn't know who was knocking," Tanya spoke quickly, "I'm not supposed to open it for just anybody since you know what happened with the crazy dude from room 104, but I looked out the hole and saw it was you and...where have you been, Luigi?"

Those silver eyes, full of disbelief and a heady emotion I couldn't place, told me just how much she'd missed me.

_...oh, Tanya, you silly girl..._

Out the corner of my eye I saw Daisy stiffen beside me. I figured I'd better introduce them before she got the wrong idea between me and the 19 year old.

"Uh, Daisy, this is my landlord's niece, Tanya." I spoke without an ounce of enthusiasm, "Tanya where's your uncle?"

Tanya and Daisy met eyes, I could see that much, but something dismissive and aloof passed over Daisy's face before she glanced off to the side. Tanya just looked Daisy up and down a second and her eyes flashed with something unreadable. She stepped back from me and stood in the doorway, her countenance significantly muted.

"He's in the back." She replied to me in a much quieter tone.

I couldn't believe she'd backed off so quickly. Her grey eyes dragged slowly from me to Daisy and back again, understanding dawning in them. It was then that I truly looked at her and saw that it wasn't a tight, salacious getup she donned, but casual sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. Her coppery hair had gotten a bit longer like mine, and now snaked in tangles down to her tan shoulders.

"I'll go get him," She told me in that same quiet voice.

When she slammed the door shut, I knew she was hurt. I wasn't dull at these things like my brother, I knew how to read a girl to a certain extent, and those juvenile feelings Tanya harbored for me underneath all that lust were still feelings nonetheless, and right now they had just been shattered. I kinda' felt bad for her, but this had to happen one day. There would never be anything between us, she was barely out of girlhood and I was a grown man. And now that she could see I was involved, I hope she got the message.

There was a silence, a stiff silence, in the time it took for my landlord to swing the door back open. I hoped Daisy didn't think anything of this, Tanya was a young girl, my landlord's niece. That's it.

"So you really _are _back," My landlord stated, "Huh. Must've been some wedding, huh?"

I almost forgot about that. Before I left, I called him and explained the situation. How long ago was that? And to think, everything _but _a wedding went down since I left.

"Do I still have a room?" I asked frankly.

"You still got your key?" He responded just as curtly.

I blinked. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing." He told me, "You can start paying me again when the next month comes. Go ahead, get settled. I'll turn your water back on."

I couldn't believe he wasn't charging me back-pay; I mean, my landlord was as cheap as penny candy, it wasn't like him to just let that go.

"Don't just stand there," He told me, "Go on. If it were up to me, I'd have boxed your stuff up and had it ready for you down at St. Vincent De Paul's."

_Now that sounds more like him, _I thought.

"So why didn't you?" I asked, though I probably shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"It was that girl." He admitted, "She convinced me to hold it for you. Said, 'I know he'll be back', she did. And. Well. Here you are, so."

I frowned. That figures. Of course Tanya would want me to come back. The little stalker was probably bettin' on it with her fingers crossed. But I shouldn't be too hard on her, I did have my room still.

"And that car a'yours," My landlord continued.

"What about it?" I asked warily.

"I woulda' had that towed, but she'd go and camp out on it," He spoke, "Wouldn't let me do that either."

I didn't necessarily like the image of Tanya 'camping out' on my car, but I guess the main thing is that it's still here, unhindered. That's all that matters. But that made me think; how much influence did this petite girl have over her portly, broad-built uncle? Surely she didn't _make _him hold my stuff. He had to want to. Why? Did he actually care?

_You mean I'm not just a paycheck to him? Ludicrous, _I thought with a mild smile.

"Thanks," I told him gratefully.

He shrugged and said in a muttered tone, "I'm just glad you're alright, kid. You were gone so long and I...I didn't know what to think."

He gave me a meaningful look that sorta' made me feel uncomfortable, then went back into his office and shut the door. Now I felt like a jerk. Here I was, thinking the worst of the both of them, and they...

"Come on," I told Daisy softly, "I gotta' go somewhere right quick."

She was totally silent but nodded a bit and followed me out to the parking lot. I showed her to my car and dug in my pockets for my keys. Like my money, I had them at the ready for this morning's homecoming. I unlocked the doors and opened hers for her. I put her luggage in the back, then got into the front seat and started the car.

It was running still. That was something.

Daisy's face lit up at the sound of the engine, in an alarmed sort of way. She glanced over at me nervously.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's just the car starting." I told her gently.

She nodded, but was very much ill at ease. I guess riding the bus was a lot more passive an experience than being in the passenger side of a car going at least 45-60 miles an hour. The girl grew more distressed as we traveled, so I took the liberty of reaching over and taking her hand.

"Shouldn't you be using both hands to steer this 'vehicle'?" She asked me cautiously.

I smiled and said, "Nah, it's cool. I've been driving a while."

And I helped her calm down by holding her hand, stroking the back of her knuckles with my thumb, and talking to her about the things she saw out the window and such. It distracted her. Soon she began to relax. Even sooner, we arrived at our destination. The downtown pizza joint. AKA, my job.

If I still had one, that is.

Like my landlord, my boss was under the impression that I'd be gone, at most, a week or two for a wedding. Since that wasn't the case, and I'd not called to let him know in the meantime what was going on, there was a high chance I might've been fired. Oh well. The sooner I get in there the sooner I'll know.

"What's this place?" Daisy asked me in a very distant voice.

I said, "My um, place of employment. A pizza parlor. Not as classy as the name might suggest, to be honest."

"Luigi, stop doing that." She insisted softly.

"What?" I frowned.

Daisy turned to me and said, "Don't discount things about your life anymore. I won't think less of you, no matter what. I just want to be a part of your world, whether it's classy or ostentatious or dirt-poor or what. So long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter to me."

Somewhere along the line of her speech, she'd dropped her gaze down into her lap. She'd touched me. I reached over and tucked my thumb under her chin, then kissed her forehead. When I pulled back, she looked stricken.

"What is it?" I asked immediately.

She shook her head and claimed, "N-nothing."

I decided to leave it at that for now, seeing as how I was eager to get this next experience over with. I got out and helped her out, then led her into the building. She was clinging to my arm as we crossed the street, sans crosswalk. I took her hand and kissed it gently before opening the door for her.

"You can just wait right here," I said, "This shouldn't take long."

I pulled out a chair for her and then headed straight to the back. I passed my former co-workers who regarded me as they would a stranger and headed towards the kitchen. There was plenty of heat brimming out from the ovens as I made a left towards the boss' hole-in-the-wall office. I knocked twice.

"It's open!" He called.

I came in and my boss had to do a double take.

"Whoa!" He grinned, "Talk about back from the dead! Where you been?"

I started to explain but he held up his hand suddenly.

"On second thought, never mind," He back-tracked. "I don't like to delve too deep in my employees' lives, things tend to get messy, you see things you ought not to, people get offed, eh...you know what I mean?"

...No.

I actually didn't. Hence that befuddled face I was probably sporting right about then.

He waved a hand and said, "So what'd you wanna' talk about?"

"My job." I replied. _  
_

_Why else would I be here? _

"Yeah, what about it?" He asked, looking down at some paperwork.

_Is he for real? _

"...Do I still have one?" I asked bluntly.

He glanced up and said, "Oh. Yeah, yeah sure. You uh, you still got your uniform, right?"

"Yeah." I replied.

"Can you come in next week?" He asked.

I was about to answer when he cut me off again.

"You know what, just wait until the next month is here." He amended, "That's good?"

"Sure."

"Good!" He declared, "I'll see you on the first, then."

"Right." I sighed.

This was a good thing. Yes, it was a terrible job and I didn't get paid nearly enough but I got paid, and that was what mattered. I was fine with my life before, so why should I complain now? I'll make do. I've got something I didn't have before to help me get through the dreariness, and the lovely balm was sitting right there near the entrance door.

"You're done?" She asked me, looking up when I got near her.

I nodded and led her back outside. "Yup. Turns out I still have a job."

"That's great," She said.

"Right."

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"So um, this is home."

There wasn't much to present, but Daisy looked enchanted nonetheless. I was glad to see her smile. I feared I'd put her off with the Tanya incident this morning, but now she was following me around my apartment appraising each and every thing as if it were something out of Home and Garden. I couldn't see what she saw, it just looked like the same old cut-rate furnished apartment I was used to.

"Uh, bathroom's in there, this is the closet," I pointed out along this short tour. "This is actually the bedroom, not another closet like you might think."

She smiled and said, "It's not that small, Luigi. It's nice."

"If you say so," I shrugged.

I showed her the dresser and put her luggage near it. It only took me a moment to get a few bags from the kitchen, then empty my stuff into them according to which drawer they came out of. I put the bags on the shelf in my closet and rested her cloth sacks in the now-empty open drawer.

"I'll keep my stuff into my closet until I can get another set of shelves or some crates," I said. "You can have the dresser. And all the uh, towels are right here, across from the bathroom."

"What's that?" She suddenly asked.

I looked at the big thing she was pointing at and smiled.

"Oh, I think you might like that." I said, "It's the television. It plays movies and stuff, like a theatre."

"Oh," She remarked with interest.

Daisy rubbed her arms and said, "I think I want to take a shower and change clothes."

It _was _getting late into the evening by now. I would probably be doing the same thing soon.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "I could eat."

"Hamburger Helper?" I gambled.

"What's that?"

"Inexpensive."

"Sounds delicious," She laughed.

"It's alright." I admitted. "Should be ready by the time you get done." I predicted.

"Kay," she responded, then headed to the bedroom.

While she was doing that, I went ahead and got started on our 'dinner'. I'd definitely have to go buy some groceries soon. In fact, I'll be making a lot of changes now that Daisy was here. But first I wanted to find out what was on her mind. The girl's been distracted all day, even before the Tanya incident. Something was bothering her.

The shower started running, so my attention went there for a moment.

Laundry would be different. Free time, working, all that would change now that Daisy's here. I'll have to help her get adjusted to this new life. Maybe that was what was bothering her.

Like I predicted, it didn't take long for the food to finish. Daisy was out before it was done though, clad in a pair of cloth shorts and and a t-shirt that said 'The Ramones'...wait a minute.

"Isn't that-"

"It's yours," She affirmed with a sly smile, "I really like it. You mind?"

"Not really." I told her.

_Not at all, _I thought.

Daisy sank down into a chair in the kitchen and I served her half of the pan of pasta. I put the rest on my plate and looked in the fridge. There was some milk, bad by now, and a jug of water I filtered, along with some Hawaiian Punch.

"Juice or water?" I asked.

"Juice." She answered.

I poured us both a cup and came to the table.

"I hope you don't mind the fact that everything's paper."

She shrugged, "Less dishes."

We ate, and I noticed right away that it was way too salty. The cheesiness was overbearing. And the ground meat was hot enough to scald my tongue. Daisy tore it up, though. She finished and grinned at me.

"That was really good!" She praised.

"Not too much salt?" I quirked a brow.

She shook her head, "No, Luigi. It was really good. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it." I said, "I don't really cook that much."

"Well now you won't have to," She told me, "I'm here."

"You don't have to do that." I said.

Daisy leaned over and kissed my cheek, "I know. But you know I like to cook."

"And you do it so well," I added.

Daisy's face flashed with some kind of recognition of something. She brushed it off and went to dump her 'dishes' in the trash. Then she went over to the couch. I followed her and turned off the kitchen light, bathing us in darkness. That didn't last because I turned on the tv soon after.

"Whoa," Daisy breathed at the sight and sound of it.

I gave her the remote and said, "These are for volume, and these are for the channels. Find something you like. I'm about to take a shower."

"Kay," She hummed absently, already getting into the television.

By the time I got out, dressed in loose pants and a t-shirt, she'd settled on cartoons. Interesting. I sank down onto the end of the couch and she climbed into my lap. I welcomed her there, loved the way her body was all soft curves and warmness. I kissed the top of her head and relaxed my arms around her.

"You smell good," I told her.

"You smell like soap and water," She said back, smiling.

"I'll take what I can get." I remarked. "What do you think?"

"Of what?"

"Brooklyn."

"I haven't seen much of it yet," She spoke slowly, "But it's very um, intriguing. It's a lot to take in."

"Yeah, it is." I said. "You got something on your mind?"

"Hm?"

"You been kinda' quiet today." I said, "are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna' talk about anything?" I tried once more.

Daisy gazed up at me with those pretty, light eyes and kissed the underside of my jaw.

"I'm okay." She claimed. "And I love you, by the way."

"You know I love you," I told her back.

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**A/N: And so concludes chapter one of the sequel. I did say I'd be coming out with one, sorry it took so long. My life is in major transition, to put it mildly, very, _very _mildly. I wish I could tell you some of the things that's been going on but I don't want to burden you. **

**Anyway.**

**How do you like it so far? Ha, I know it's quite early, but yeah. Things will start off relatively mildly. Treasure the light and fluffy moments, because when the darkness comes, I guarantee you it will not be pretty. **

**Not even _kinda_ pretty if you just, like, put a bit of makeup here and there and change the lighting and...lol. **

**You get the picture. I don't wanna give anything away, so stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Leave your thoughts and reviews and I'll see you next time!**

**~DymondGold~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate your reviews, both short and in-depth, they touch my heart and put a big smile on my face!**

**Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any thing related to the Super Mario Brothers Franchise or its affiliates. It belongs to Nintendo and its creators. I'm just taking some liberties for your enjoyment.**

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**Chapter Two**

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Ringing ears. Throbbing skull. Aching eyeballs. Intense nausea. He knew the signs, but the fact that he had a headache was unfathomable to him. He hadn't had one since he was about five or six years old, when he'd learned a certain magical technique that dispelled the symptoms almost immediately. From then on, he'd altered and perfected the technique to the point where he could do it almost automatically. So why was he suffering now? Why had he been jerked from slumber and compelled to fling his body over the side of his bed where he became violently ill all over the floor?

Ludwig wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and flicked his other one over the mess, making it vanish completely. He sat on the edge of his silk-sheeted mattress and buried his head in his hands. The pain of the headache was nearly debilitating. It was hard for him to see, his stomach was still turning and lurching, but he willed it away. Seconds of earnest concentration was what it took to push the discomfort down to a level where only a faint bit of pressure resounded in the back of his head. He was at a loss as to why he couldn't get rid of it altogether. He was sending out magical vectors within his own head, but it felt as if there was something, some force, pushing back. Something was expanding in his head. Swelling up inside his skull, taking up a vast amount of space and cracking the plates of bone in its way to make more room. It was a crippling sort of pain. Ludwig only set his jaw and used even more of his power to stifle this foreign malady.

There.

It was completely gone now. Not a trace of the pain left. It was as if it had totally disappeared. Ludwig was disturbed. He thought back on his actions and behavior from the last week and couldn't pinpoint anything to be the cause of his sudden ailment.

_It shouldn't have taken that much effort, _he reasoned, _for jut a headache. This is something else. _

"Lu!"

The ex-enforcer and present king of the Badlands turned towards his door. Someone was banging incessantly on it. He had a feeling he knew just who it was. He let them bang on while he took a moment to contemplate his situation even more.

_If this isn't something of my own doing, _he pondered, _whose handiwork could it be? I haven't made any enemies, not yet. _

It was more than true. Since his reign began, Ludwig had gone about setting the kingdom to rights as best he could. He hadn't had any correspondence with any other region in the meantime. His biggest focus was on strengthening the Badlands undoing the strife its former 'ruler' had caused. He hadn't had time to make any enemies yet.

_Unless King Boo is upset with me about abandoning my contract with him...even if he was, the old croon wouldn't be able to set a curse on me of this caliber, _Ludwig reasoned.

The banging had turned to hard thumps now, like the frenetic beating of a drum. Ludwig sighed and rose from his bed, letting the silk sheets slide of his bare waist as he did. His entire chest and torso was slick with sweat from his ordeal and his hair was tangled and unkempt. He passed a hand over his head to smooth his locks and then went over to the door. What he saw did not surprise him.

Lying on the polished marble floor with their feet in the air, having been pounding them against the door previously, were Lemmy and Bowser Junior. Lemmy had grown out his multicolored hair so that it fanned out on the floor around his head much like Junior's own fiery, thick strands. Junior had his thumb in his mouth and a blank dullness in jade eyes. Lemmy's were sparkling and bright like his wide smile.

"Morning Lu!" He greeted.

Junior just stared up at the ex-enforcer with that same empty, nonchalant gaze.

"Get up." Ludwig ordered curtly. "Both of you."

Lemmy leapt to his feet and held his hand out to help Junior do the same. The younger boy had grown a bit so that he matched the seven-year-old's height perfectly. Once on his feet, Junior slipped his hand into Lemmy's and sucked steadfastly on his other thumb.

"Get that out of your mouth," Ludwig scolded sharply, and was pleased to see the child obey.

He had noticed, with no small amount of disapproval, how much Junior was beginning to exhibit a sort of regressive behavior. He almost never spoke, he sucked his thumb, and he most often trailed Lemmy around by the hand. Ludwig planned to rid Junior of these babyish ways once the Badlands were in order.

He made his way down to the dining hall with the two munchkins in tow. As much as he hated the former Dark King and his palace, he was inclined to reside in the place for now, for a variety of reasons. All of the king's files and tax logs and important artifacts for handling internal affairs were located here. Also, the place was already staffed and fully functioning, which was more than he could say for the palace he was building for himself, up on a hill overlooking the city of the Badlands, right in the heart of the kingdom.

_How on Earth did he manage to rule a nation while being so far away from its people? Oh that's right, he didn't. _

No, what Bowser was doing was terrorizing, not ruling. Not in Ludwig's opinion. He knew what it took to be a good ruler, and now that the king was slain, he could make good use of the abundant resources that Bowser had neglected, abused, and/or wasted entirely.

* * *

It took me a few seconds, but this morning I had to remind myself that no, I did not go out and get drunk last night. So why did I have a killer headache this morning? It wasn't quite like a hangover, since I wasn't nauseous, it was more like a mild throbbing in the back of my head. There was more pressure than pain. _  
_

_Nothing a couple of pain pills can't take care of, _I figured.

I stretched my arms behind my head and grinned down at the beauty in my lap. We fell asleep on the couch last night and were still here. Yeah, my back was a bit stiff but I'd walk it off. After going through hell with Bowser in his dungeons and that whole ordeal, I could hardly complain. Especially since I got to wake up to such a treasure of a woman like Daisy.

I bent down and kissed the top of her head. I still couldn't believe she was here, in Brooklyn with me. The girl was a dream. She was way too good for me and this world. So strong and resilient and kind-hearted and lovely.

"Luigi?"

She was awake now, turning and trying to grip a handful of the couch fabric so that she could sit up. Once she was perched in between my legs on the cushion, she rubbed at her eyes. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her. She leaned back and nestled her head against my chest.

"Hey." She said softly, smiling prettily.

"Hey." I murmured back. "How'd you sleep?"

"Really well." She told me.

"That makes one of us." I shrugged. "You hungry?"

"A little bit." She yawned.

I stood, picking her up as I did, and said, "Then we should probably go out and eat."

Daisy wrapped her arms around my next as I carried her to my room. I set her down on the bed and then went over to my closet where my clothes were stashed. I heard her get up and open one of the drawers. A plain shirt and a pair of black pants was what I picked out from the pile on the shelf, along with some socks and my trainers. I saw Daisy heading to the bathroom so I got dressed in the closet until she finished.

"Luigi?" She called.

Pulling my shirt over my head and pushing my feet into my shoes, I grabbed my belt from off the doorknob on my way to see what the matter was.

"Yeah?" I spoke once I reached her.

She had a face towel in her hands and was pointing towards my toothbrush and paste.

"I left mine, I think." She told me.

"That's alright," I told her, "I got an extra one up here."

I opened the mirror above the sink and took out the opened pack of two-count toothbrushes that I bought a few months ago. It was brand new and green in comparison to the blue one I used. I rinsed it off and handed the brush to her, then handed her the toothpaste. Her eyes were elsewhere.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing to a bottle of pills.

Oh those.

"That's some medicine I used to take." I spoke quietly. "For the depression."

She glanced at me and asked, "You don't take them anymore?"

"Nope. Don't need to." I said, "I've got you now."

Her gaze softened as she murmured, "Oh Luigi. Sometimes you say the most..."

She shook her head with a gentle smile and started brushing her teeth. While she did, I ran a comb through my hair. That didn't take long, so I put the comb away and held her waist, letting my chin rest on the top of her head. She glanced at me in the mirror.

"We'll be taking your 'vehicle' this morning?" She guessed.

"Yeah." I answered, "The place I'm thinking of is a little while away from here."

And it was.

It took us about fifteen minutes to get there. It didn't surprise me that Daisy was quiet the whole ride. I didn't mind. I just took the time to study her. She was so perfect to me. She had her hair down again, with a braid going from the left side of her head over to the right where it was held with a red clip the same color as her dress. This one was a button-down with an embroidered collar and short sleeves and a straight, starched hem that ended at the middle of her thigh.

Beautiful.

"We're here." I announced once I pulled into the parking lot behind the restaurant.

It was a nice, small place downtown with phenomenal pancakes. I didn't come here a lot because it was kind of on the expensive side, but the food is worth it. It was one of the nicest places I could think of going since I doubted Daisy would want greasy donuts and watered down coffee.

"I don't understand," Daisy spoke when she got out. "Is this a food vendor's establishment?"

"It's called a restaurant." I explained, "People come to these places and pay money to be served food."

"Ah." Daisy hummed. "So you are waited on in exchange for a fee?"

"Yup, just about." I nodded.

A pensive look passed over Daisy's face, like she was recalling something. I wanted to know what was on her mind.

"That reminds me," She spoke quietly, "I used to do the same thing, without the fee. For _him_."

"Oh." I said, "_Oh. _We could um, go somewhere else or um, pick something up." _  
_

"No," She shook her head, "It doesn't bother me."

I didn't know if I believed that. She looked a bit distracted now, just like yesterday. Could it be that it was him on her mind all this time? I wouldn't be surprised. I had very little idea about what she went through under his captivity. I'm not sure I wanted to know, but if she ever felt like opening up to me, I'd be more than willing to listen.

I led the girl to a table outside and was glad she'd come to Brooklyn during the late spring time. It was a lot less cold than usual on most days. Granted, there were still some arctic weather liable to hit now and again, but on average it was a lot more tolerable than winter.

I ordered for the both of us since this was Daisy's first time here, and waited patiently for our food to get here. Meanwhile, I reached over and took Daisy's hand, then kissed the back of her knuckles. She smiled, but it looked a little forced so I let go. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

When our food came, she ate in silence so I did too. Something was definitely eating at her. I did enjoy the food; scrambled eggs, fluffy hot cakes and maple syrup, and crispy bacon. The orange juice was rich and did well to wash it all down. Daisy smiled when she finished her meal, which only did a little to put me at ease.

"That was really good," she stated. "Thank you for taking me here, Luigi."

"I'm glad you liked it," I told her. "Are you um, are you feeling alright?"

I didn't want to make her feel obligated to tell me anything, but I also didn't want her to feel like I was ignoring her plight or think I was oblivious or something. She actually tilted her head and considered answering me. But then I realized I should have just packed up and left after we got done, because there was someone over by the bus stop who caught my eye.

I tried looking away but it was too late; this person had seen me once and was making his way over to us, I could tell from his increasing size in my peripheral vision. I did not want to deal with him right now, and I really didn't want him laying his filthy eyes on Daisy. She was too good for him even to look at. I knew firsthand how he treated and spoke of women, so I hated to think of what he'd say about my love.

"What's wrong?" Daisy asked, glancing behind me. "Who is that?"

"The village idiot." I muttered.

Daisy smiled and quirked a brow high, her eyes glittering and her distraction far gone by the time the person reached our table.

He smelled like ten types of 'tool' today, and that stupid grin wasn't helping his image either. He'd cut his hair so that it resembled a deep brown, mowed lawn and his eyes looked ever-shady.

"Luigi! Man what's goin' on?" He greeted loudly.

I cringed and sat back in my chair with a sigh.

"Terry." I said flatly in greeting.

He laid his hands on the table in between Daisy and me and lifted his brows.

"Say man," He whispered but not really, "Who's the babe?"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I asked after my eye stopped twitching.

Terry shrugged and said, "Not really. Just work later on. You still working at the pizza joint down on Hardy boulevard?"

"Unfortunately." I deadpanned.

"Oh cool, cool." Terry nodded exuberantly, then said, "So uh, I guess I was wrong, then."

"About?" I prompted.

" 'Bout you bein' gay and all." He said simply, then started grinning stupidly again.

He pushed himself off the table and clapped his hands together, then pointed towards the incoming bus on the street.

"Well. That's me," He said, "I guess I'll see you at work man."

I scowled as he left, making some indecent eyebrow gestures to me behind Daisy's back. I suppose he could've been a lot worse. He didn't say anything too lewd or crass this time. For that I was mildly grateful.

"Terry?" Daisy spoke in response to that walking obscenity.

I sighed and said, "He's a co-worker of mine. Not really a person worth knowing."

"Ouch." Daisy remarked with a playful smile. "He thought you were gay?"

"I wasn't involved with or interested in anyone," I said in answer, "I guess that was the vibe I was giving off."

Daisy smiled and said, "Some people thought that way in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Really?" I frowned. "How come?"

"Peasley."

"Ah."

_Now that I could understand. I did try and tell my friend several times not to be so over the top, but he was a naturally affectionate person, physically so. _

"You finished?" I asked Daisy.

She nodded and stood. I led her inside so that I could pay for our meal, then guided her to the car. Not a moment too soon, either, because that headache was starting to come back.

* * *

There was always work to be done. Paperwork needed to be read over and signed. Construction sites needed to be supervised. Blueprints and legislature needed to be finished and authorized. He had an entire kingdom to run and he was damn near doing it alone, so it didn't help matters if he had to deal with a splitting, nauseating pain in his body at the same time. Yes, after five days that headache had only spread and gotten worse. The swelling sensation was the most prevalent, the most pervasive, the most resistant to his magic. It was driving him crazy. Every little thing got on his last nerve.

There was a crash.

That made him flinch. He'd been hearing little feet running up and down the halls all day today, but he'd tried to ignore it. That crash was the last straw. Ludwig stalked from the war room where he'd been outlining the key articles of a new law to be enforced and slammed the door behind him. He headed past the throne room and burst through the double doors towards the dining hall. He saw the two culprits near the table, and then he saw a couple of shattered plates on the floor. Both of them wore no shoes or socks so that spelled trouble right there. At the sight of Ludwig, though, they fled.

Or they tried to.

Lemmy had turned tail and ran with Junior in tow, clinging to his hand. Ludwig vanished into thin air and reappeared in front of them. Before they could fall backwards, having knocked into him, he grabbed them by the scruff of their shirts and lifted them high off the ground. Junior's thumb almost immediately flew to his mouth. Ludwig gazed at his brother, who was unperturbed at being held so high, then he gazed at Junior. The boy was blank-faced as usual.

"Listen to me, you little pests," Ludwig began in a dull tone, "If you can't keep your shenanigans down to a minimum, go out into the courtyard. I can't work with you two keeping up all this noise."

"But Lu," Lemmy interjected, "B-Jun doesn't like the courtyard!"

"Yes, I'd imagine he wouldn't." Ludwig drawled without an ounce of pity. "I don't care. Just go somewhere where I can't see or hear you."

"Like where?" Lemmy asked.

"The dungeons." Ludwig replied tonelessly.

"Okay." Lemmy replied with a mild, plaintive frown. "Come on, B-Jun."

Ludwig dropped them onto their feet and Lemmy led the younger child out of the dining hall.

With a frustrated sigh, Ludwig and his pounding skull headed back to the war room. About five minutes. That was how long he had been gone. That was how long it took for his work space to be infiltrated by his brothers. The four of them were yelling and jeering like a bunch of monkeys. No, just Roy and Morton were doing the hooting and hollering, Larry looked pretty smug and Iggy stood to the side, unaffected, with a piece of parchment and a reed pen in his hand.

"You little twerp, you cheated, yo!" Roy accused.

"No I didn't," Larry claimed, then declared, "I'm just _better_ than you."

_Wait a minute, _Ludwig thought.

Upon closer inspection, he could see that the paper that Iggy had written tallies all over was actually a page from the set of legislature he was going over. In fact, all his documents were bent in half and lined up like a partition in the middle of the long wooden table. Larry and Morton and Roy held little paddles in their hands, and Roy had crushed a small round ball in his hand for all his fury.

Ping pong. They were playing ping pong in Ludwig's office. If that wasn't enough to push him over the edge, something had to be said of his innate self-control. Ludwig crossed his arms in the doorway and cleared his voice.

In a still voice he said, "Get out."

Roy's head jerked towards him and he sneered, saying, "No, yo. We got a score to settle with this little twerp."

"Yeah," MJ chimed in.

"He thinks he's better'n us or something," Roy added. "Gotta teach this pipsqueak a lesson."

"Yeah!" MJ spoke.

"I think we should leave, like Ludwig says," Iggy suggested sagely.

"Yo, nobody asked you, brainiac." Roy snapped.

"Don't talk to him like that, you big bully!" Larry shouted in defense of his more reserved sibling, then added over his shoulder, "You're just mad 'cause you're a loser!"

"You wanna' say that to my face, you little punk!" Roy barked.

"Get your ugly mug over here and I will!" Larry challenged with a smirk.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Ludwig scowled, "You want me to take you back to the bunker?"

That was a sobering threat for them all. Ludwig's headache abated just the tiniest bit when he was graced with a moment of silence.

"All of you get out." He ordered, "Instead of messing around, you ought to be training."

There were gripes and groans at the mention of that, mainly from Larry. Roy and Morton didn't much mind the grueling sessions of sparring and working out.

"Quiet!" Ludwig snapped. "If you've got time to slack off, you have time to train some more."

"But we already train for nearly eight hours a day!" Larry complained.

"In another world," Ludwig stated, "Brats your age have to sit in a contained building in uncomfortable chairs while someone lectures them for eight hours a day. Would you rather that?"

"...Maybe." Larry muttered under his breath.

Ludwig gave him a hard look and ushered him out with the rest of his brothers. He had considered the idea of sending them on their way in that other world, but his siblings were far more valuable to him here in the Badlands.

* * *

Tonight was one of the best nights I've had in Brooklyn in years. Daisy and I were in the living room, staying up late watching re-runs of All That and playing a board game. I didn't cook tonight, we were eating Chinese take-out and drinking Dr. Pepper. Not the most exciting ways to pass the time but it was what Daisy wanted to do and I wouldn't deny her. Just being here with her was enough for me anyway.

Daisy looked happy. She was dressed for bed in her t-shirt and shorts and was sitting cross-legged, leaving me in the dust in the game that I had taught her how to play not an hour ago.

"I want to buy this piece of property, please." She spoke after taking a sip from the maroon can in her hand.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Of course you do."

"What was that?" She teased, "Did the poor man say something?"

"And who made me poor?" I asked her wryly.

She shrugged and said, "The object of the game is to set up a monopoly, isn't it?"

"The object of the game is to ruin relationships." I answered.

Daisy laughed. "Luigi, don't be mad!"

_How could I, when you drop that beautiful laugh on me? _

"Here," She spoke sweetly, "You can have this."

I took the meager one dollar bill and said, "How magnanimous of you."

Daisy's face flashed with something unreadable for the umpteenth time, and then she sort of sobered. I was getting sick of seeing that phenomena happen; I wanted to know what was wrong.

"Hey." I said gently, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." She said quickly. "It's your turn."

I glanced down and took the dice, taking my time in shaking them up.

"You can tell me if anything is bothering you, Daisy." I spoke at the board. "I love you and I'm here for you if you need to talk, so don't think I'll judge you or anything."

When I looked up again the girl was gazing at me with a misty-eyed, heart-felt expression. I blinked and lifted a brow in question and she smiled crookedly.

"Luigi, you're so sweet, you know that?"

"I try."

"No, I'm serious." She insisted, "I love you. And I'm so glad you left your ticket at home that day."

"Hm?"

"That day on the train?" She reminded me.

_Ah yes; fate. _

"Yeah, I'm glad too." I said with a faint smile.

I really wished she would just tell me what was wrong. I hated being in the dark. I was in the dark once before, when she and Ludwig were doing that operation at the palace, and look how that turned out. I just wanted her to trust me to be there for her.

A while later, our game was pushed aside and Daisy came to sit tucked into my side on the couch. A movie was playing on television, something scandalous, but neither of us were really watching it. I was content to lay her, with her head on my chest. Her hair smelled nice. Her body felt nice against mine, too. I loved this girl.

"Luigi?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your job like?"

Hm. What an interesting question that I did not feel like answering. I didn't like to lie to her, but I didn't like to get her down with my downer answers either. If I was being honest, I'd have to say it was boring and monotonous and people most often treated me like the hired help.

What I told her was, "It's alright. I don't do much. Just wait on people and make pizzas all night."

"That doesn't sound too bad." She shrugged.

No, it didn't, because I was leaving out the part about the customers sometimes being pretentious, condescending pricks or inept twits. Every now and again, there'd be decent human beings coming in and out, but not usually. My co-workers were either refreshingly platonic or awful wastes of space and my boss was almost never there. Wait, that was actually a good thing.

"I want to work."

"Hm?"

"I want to get a job." Daisy said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Well, to pull my own weight." She shrugged.

"You don't have to." I told her, but I knew that wasn't true.

If I wanted to keep this up and pay for some things we'd need around the apartment and buy groceries and keep saving for a better life, I'd either have to get a second job or accept her getting her first. I didn't know about that.

"Does that bother you?" Daisy asked, looking up at me.

I said, "Yeah, kinda."

She sat up and folded her arms, appearing affronted.

"Luigi, I've had a job before, remember?" She reminded me, "I'm more than capable of working."

"I know," I told her, "It's not that. I just. This place, this whole area of town is really shitty and low-down, and you. You're really good, you're so much better than all this. You're a _princess_, Daisy, you're like a ray of light and I guess I'm just afraid of what a place as dark as Brooklyn is going to do to you."

Daisy's eyes softened. "Oh. Well Luigi, you know I can take care of myself. And besides, I don't think this place is so 'shitty'. I think it's what you make of it."

"If you say so." I remarked.

"So you'll help me find a job?" She asked eagerly.

"Yeah, sure." I promised. "I've got another week until I have to go back to work so I'll see what I can do in that time."

"Cool." Daisy smiled, using a word of mine.

She laid her head back on my chest. I would have relaxed more if the headache that had been haunting me all week wouldn't have reared its head again. This time I waited until she fell asleep to carry her to the bed. Whether I liked it or not, the girl would have her way. If she wanted to work, there was nothing I could do to stop her. If I helped her find a job though, I might get lucky and set her up with some day-time hours, or better yet, a part-time job on the weekends. I knew she was capable, but why tempt fate? I would lose my mind if anything happened to her.

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter down. Sorry to say, but I won't be updating very soon after this chapter. There will be a wait so I'm sorry in advance :)**

**How are you liking the story thus far? What do you think is causing Ludwig's headaches? **

**Is it a coincidence that Luigi is having headaches****(albeit much less severe ones)****too? **

**And what is on Daisy's mind? **

**Find out in the next chapter! Until then...**

**~DymondGold~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mortal Kombat and/or its characters and settings. It belongs to Midway...Not! It belongs to the folks at Warner Brothers' Netherrealm Studios and their affiliates.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Eight days.

The thing had been plaguing him for eight days now. Each day the pain grew worse and he had to work that much harder on keeping it at bay. That only meant less of his attention could be devoted to getting things done, which only frustrated him more and more. His temper was already known to be short at times, but now every little thing seemed to be getting to him.

His little brother Lemmy knew to keep himself and his tag-along, Bowser Junior, near the safety of the kitchens. Since the two could hardly sneak off and play anywhere else lest Ludwig's ire come down upon them, Lemmy set up a small table and chair set where he and 'B-Jun' could draw pictures and play card games or make playing dough with flour and water, courtesy of the kitchen staff. Roy and Morton kept to the downstairs training area most of the time, and Larry was satisfied so long as he had an open space and a ball. Quite often he would cajole Iggy into joining in his fun. And as for Wendy. Well. She was another story.

The girl was constantly challenging his authority lately, mainly on the basis that Ludwig was only about four years older than her and therefore could not really tell her what to do. Ludwig knew he was losing his hold over her, over all of his siblings, so when that day came he would have to assert a different sort of dominance over them all.

"Knock, knock."

"Speak of the she-devil and the girl shall appear," Ludwig murmured to himself.

He was trying to get some work done in this closet of a room nestled above the royal harem. It was a small space that used to serve as a sort of janitorial closet. He found he could get plenty of things done in relative peace after he moved a couch and desk and chair and lamp in there. Now that one of his siblings found his private hole, he figured that might soon change.

"I'm gonna' assume you're in there." Wendy spoke on the other side of the door. "I just wanted to let you know I'm going into town to see a friend of mine."

"Get in here."

He refused to play into his little sister's hands. She was baiting him, trying to coax him into an argument. He was convinced she liked arguing and antagonizing him. She was obedient in opening the door and stepping inside the room, though, much to his relief. However, when he looked up from his work that relief came crashing back down in his gut.

"What the hell are you wearing?"

"Cl-"

"If you say clothes, I'll hurt you Wendy." He interjected. "Why do insist on tearing up all the garments I've given you?"

"I don't tear them up," She clarified, "I 'alter' them."

"Why?"

"Because it defines me." She stated simply.

The girl put her hands on her hips and gave herself a once over. She didn't see anything wrong with her outfit. She'd taken a black silk shirt and sewed it into a pair of cuffed shorts, then thinned out her old turquoise snake-skin pants into tights and wore them underneath. Her blouse was a plain white button-down and the black trainers she wore actually belonged to her brother Roy. So did the thick gold link chain around her neck. The hoop earrings and bracelets were entirely hers.

"Well I'm going, then." She spoke, turning towards the door.

From his seat Ludwig used his magic to shut the door and lock it. Wendy tried the handle and then turned to face her brother.

"What?" She cried plaintively.

"You want to go into town and sit up under that little sniveling punk from the inn, then fine." Ludwig acceded, "But you're not going dressed like that."

"Why not?" Wendy frowned, "You always get on my case about the way I dress but this is who I am. An individual. Or would you have me dress like a sheep like all the other women around this place, in stupid dresses and long skirts and-"

"I'd like it if you didn't dress like some two-bit whore." Ludwig cut in coldly. "But if you like it so much then maybe you should go into town, straight to the brothel."

Wendy blinked, hurt, and said, "...What?"

"Just get out." Ludwig hissed, "Get Roy or Morton to go into town with you."

The girl was still a bit shocked at her brother's harsh words and was only too eager to leave him be. As soon as she shut the door, Ludwig dropped his head in his hands. He stared at his thighs and knew he'd gone too far. What he said was uncalled for. Normally he only thought of some of those things, he never said them aloud to Wendy. It would hurt her feelings and perhaps even compel her to rebel even more. She would think he didn't understand her, which he very much did, it was just that he was a hypocrite. He knew he was. He liked in other women what he'd never tolerate in his own baby sister.

It's this damn headache, he groused, it keeps getting worse and worse.

He was incredibly irritable and the pain, it was getting to be too much, even for him. He started trembling. The pain was coming back, breaking away from the magical chains he'd previously bound it with. His stomach was the first to bear the brunt of the wave of agony, lurching and rocking and heaving. Ludwig gripped a fistful of the fabric of his loose silk pants and gritted his teeth. He refused to let this overcome him. He would not-

Ludwig cried out sharply. It felt like he'd just been axed in the back of his skull. That's where all the action occurred, at the base of his head. The swelling, the pounding, the tearing. Ludwig pulled at his navy hair and squeezed his eyes shut. He never chanted incantations, he was much too advanced for that, but he chanted now. He had to cast a cloaking spell over himself. This was a more primeval response to pain that didn't dissipate the cause of the pain, only cloaked it as its name suggested. It was only temporary and somewhat detrimental to his health seeing as how, when it wore off, he'd have to deal with the whole deluge of pain at once: it would be like switching a light on and being immersed in the pain once more.

Oh well; I'll cross that fucking bridge when I get there, he thought grimly.

The door softly clicked shut.

Ludwig froze, now 'pain-free', or at least under the illusion of being so. That door had only just shut, meaning his sneaky little sister had seen, had heard that entire ordeal. Great.

* * *

_That voice, that darkness, it was haunting her. She could hear his voice, was surrounded by the darkness of his dungeons all over again. Blindly she ran but kept hitting walls in all directions. All except one, that is: in front of her he stood, tall and imposing. He was smirking, he was always smirking._

_"You belong to me," He whispered._

_His voice alone was a curse, so low and seductive and filled with his filthy intentions. She couldn't stop it from repeating, reverberating inside her head. His voice was all around her, laughing at her as she tried to run down a tunnel of pure darkness. She didn't know where she was going, couldn't see the ground under her feet or her hands in front of her face but she just knew she had to get away from him, far away from him._

_"You can't run from me, Precious," He spoke._

_He was in front of her again, holding her tight, too tight. His arms encased her like steel bars. His body was hot against her back, so hot that she felt as if she were being consumed by flames. She fell, she could feel her knees bang against grainy soot, the soot of her cell in his dungeons. He pulled her hair, the roots of every follicle screamed out in protest, and she could feel not hear a scream tear out of her throat. He was laughing again, laughing and tormenting her._

* * *

Daisy blinked and stared straight ahead. She was on her back, in a bed that wasn't her own, having just woken from a horrible nightmare. Her heart was pounding and her body trembled. She had dreamed of him.

"Awful," she assessed of her subconscious terrors.

The girl sat up slowly and rubbed at her eyes. Something felt off to her then. Her hands, they seemed strange. She gazed down at the pale things, then looked from her hands to the bed sheets. Silk. The bed itself was expansive. Daisy frowned and crawled to the edge of the too-big mattress and peered over the edge: rich carpeting covered the floor.

Something isn't right, the girl thought to herself.

She was tired, so very tired, so she lay back against the lush bedspread and gazed up at the dim-lit chandelier above her. Suddenly she realized why this situation seemed so off.

At the same time as her epiphany, the door to the bedroom burst open and the Dark King himself came in. She couldn't see his face, only his loose black pants and his well-cut torso from her position. He was coming towards her. She could hear him laughing.

"Miss me, little girl?"

* * *

Daisy jolted awake in bed, a bed unfamiliar to her, and held her hand to her pounding heart. Her body was coated in a sheen of sweat and consequently her t-shirt and cotton shorts clung to her. She flung the sheets off of her and stood on trembling legs, letting her feet sink into the firm navy carpeting. Very slowly she turned around.  
There he was.

Luigi. Asleep on his stomach with one arm hanging off the bed. His hair was covering his face, his face was smooth and relaxed, a contrast to the constant expression of worry he donned for her. His presence calmed her significantly.

She had never had such an intense nightmare before. And the false awakening nearly killed her heart. She was sure she'd go into cardiac arrest after finding herself trapped once more in the foul king's clutches. The girl shuddered and tried to forget about her horrible dreams. She wasn't surprised she'd had them, it was only a matter of time to her. Her body was still shaking and she had a lump in the back of her throat, as if she needed to cry. She rubbed her arms and made her way to the kitchen.

Down the short dark hall she padded in her bare feet. Childish as it seemed, she could not make the trip without first turning on the bedroom light, and after that the bathroom light.

Please don't wake up, she implored of Luigi.

He didn't. He was out cold still. Daisy hurried past the living room and made it to the kitchen, where she rooted around for a plastic cup. Having found one, she bent over the sink and poured herself some cold water. With quaking hands she brought the red cup to her lips and drank slowly, carefully, so as not to waste any on herself. By the time she finished her drink, she was a bit calmer.

"He's not here," She whispered to herself, "He's dead. He can't hurt me."

Like a mantra she repeated these affirmations over and over to herself. Once satisfied with these truths, she clicked off the kitchen lights.

"He's not here," She whispered.

Daisy passed the living room and shut off the bathroom light.

"He can't hurt me."

She turned off the bedroom light.

She turned on the bedroom light.

"He's dead."

She turned off the bedroom light.

"He can't hurt me."

She turned the light back on.

"He's not here."

She turned the light off.

She closed her eyes and began to take deep breaths, trying to slow her sprinting heart. It was working. She was calming.

* * *

Something woke me up. Some soft, hushed noise. It was only after I looked up and saw, in the darkness, that Daisy was standing near the bedroom door did I realize it was her that roused me. She was holding herself tightly with her eyes shut and her lips moving slowly over words I couldn't quite make out. The girl reminded me of the woman on that paranormal thriller movie I shouldn't have seen last year. It was creeping me out. I climbed out of bed slowly, soundlessly, so as not to startle her. Very cautiously I moved over to where she was and reached out to her, putting my hands gently over her shoulders.

She screamed.

I hurried up and turned on the lights and gripped her forearms gently, trying to catch her eye. I'd never heard her scream like that before. It immediately tore at my gut and made a chill go up my spine.

"Daisy!" I spoke over her, "Daisy it's me!"

The girl sobered and gazed at me, losing that bewildered look in her light eyes. She had tears brewing and was shaking under my palms.

"Luigi?" She spoke in a rasp.

"Yeah, it's me." I spoke softly. "I'm here. It's alright."

And then her face crumpled and she threw herself in my arms. I had no clue what was going on, but I held her and stroked the small of her back while she composed herself. The girl wasn't crying, but she was trembling and I could feel her heart pounding against my own chest.

"Shh," I coaxed, "Hey, it's alright. It's alright, Daisy."

I kissed the top of her head and just held her against me. It hurt my heart to see her like this. I didn't know what was wrong, I just hoped I was helping her in some way. After about a solid minute she pulled back and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She sniffed, "I didn't want to wake you up."

"What happened?" I asked.

She said, "I had a nightmare."

"Were you sleepwalking?" I guessed.

She shook her head and said, "No. I got up to get some water. And then I got scared and was trying to calm myself down. When you touched me, I thought. I thought."

Her voice was thick with coming sobs, her eyes wet with tears ready to be shed. I couldn't take it.

"Hey," I whispered, pulling her into my arms again, "It's okay. I have bad nightmares all the time. I mean, I used to. It's alright, it's not real. You're awake now."

"Am I?" She asked, her voice breaking. "I-I thought I was awake in the dream and then he came and he was about to, to h-hurt me again!"

"Shh," I consoled her, "It was a dream. An intense one, but still just a dream. He's not coming to hurt you anymore. Daisy, please stop crying. It's okay now. I'm here for you."

I cupped the side of her face and rubbed my thumb against the tears on her cheek. Those pretty eyes were full of emotion, so many that I couldn't attribute the tempest to just one feeling. She was deeply disturbed, that I could see. We'd need to talk about this later on, definitely.

"Come on," I said, "Let's go back to-"

"No!" Daisy shouted, "I'm sorry I just can't. I can't go back to sleep."

I knew what that was like and I kicked myself for being so thoughtless. Of course she didn't want to go back to sleep. From personal experience, I knew there was a risk of having the same dream, or having a dream where things picked right back up where they left off. I knew she was scared because I had been terrified of those sort of nightmares. Many a time I'd sat up for hours until daylight, watching tv and drinking soda.

"Alright," I said, "Come on. We can watch some cartoons or something. Get your mind off of it."

Daisy's face cleared and softened. "You won't mind?"

"Of course not." I told her.

How could I sleep knowing that you, my love, were suffering? Impossible.

I wrapped my arm around Daisy's shoulders and ushered her into the living room, shutting off the bedroom light on my way. Again, I could've kicked myself because she immediately stiffened and clung to me.

"Sorry," I said, kissing her head.

I turned on the bathroom light and then grabbed the remote, sinking down onto the couch. Daisy yet stood.

"If I get relaxed," She explained worriedly, "I might fall asleep again."

"Right." I nodded. "Hold on."

I headed to the kitchen and made mistake number three; left her alone. It was alright, she just trailed behind me to the fridge. I took out two cans of Coke and handed her one, then guided her back to the living room. I left the kitchen light on and sat down in front of the tv. Adult Swim was playing. It wasn't exactly the cartoons I was hoping for, but it'd keep her distracted.

Daisy sat down primly beside me: I knew that she only acted that way when she was uncomfortable, so I leaned back against the couch and stretched out my legs, then patted the space beside me. Daisy crawled over and plopped down, then leaned her head on my shoulder.

We stayed up all night.

* * *

_J's on my feet_

_J's on my feet _

_J's on my feet _

_So get like me! _

Wendy made a face as she heard the repetitive lyrics. She was still at the top of the stairs that led to the training room and she could hear her brother's music blasting. This particular song had enough bass to rattle the walls. She _felt _more than heard the song that was playing and cringed; not because of the song. No, she liked the song. It was just that, when Roy was down here with his music blasting, it was hard to get his attention. This afternoon she had some important things to discuss with him. The music did well to keep away the reverberations of Ludwig's words to her earlier, though.

While she descended the stairs, her youngest brother sat bewitched. No matter how much Roy picked on him, Lemmy would always look up to him. Not only because he was so tall, but because he was an excellent fighter, too. The boy was only seventeen and he was already taking down three, four, sometimes five Koopas at once. He moved as swiftly as a cheetah and had the endurance of one, too. His strikes were deadly and precise as he executed them with an astounding amount of confidence.

"Ain't nobody got moves like these, yo," He smirked to himself.

He caught sight of his sibling and the former Crown prince sitting together on a bench along the wall, saw their doe-eyed fascination, well in Junior's case it was more of a blank-faced indifference, and his smirk grew.

"Hey baby brother," He spoke in a low, conspiratorial sort of tone, "You wanna' see something cool?"

Lemmy nodded. Junior sucked on his thumb. That was invitation enough for the teen to show off.

Roy stepped over to the center of the training room, across from a willing Koopa, and chuckled.

"You ready for this, yo?" He asked his opponent.

The mutated reptilian gave no indication that he'd heard Roy's question. The creature stood, stoic and stalwart, armed with a spear, with metal plating covering various parts of his body. Roy had no such armor or weapons other than his own two hands and feet. He lifted his head and then dropped his hands to his sides. He turned one of them upwards so that his wrist was facing him and his nails were digging into his palm, then used his free hand to grip that one in the middle of his forearm. Slowly, with much concentration, Roy began channeling energy down to his fist. The strands of innate energy coiled down his toned arms and bloomed over his knuckles so that they glowed an electric pink color the same shade as his hair.

"Here comes the power move!" Roy shouted.

He released his hand on his glowing wrist and then pulled his arm back at the elbow, then launched it forward deep, deep, deeper inside his opponent's chest until it came bursting through the skin in the Koopa's back. Like a hinge he snapped his arm back out and hissed in a breath through his teeth.

"Shit!" He swore loudly.

Not only was his hand and arm coated in the blood of the Koopa, but also some of his own. He'd torn his skin when he plunged his fist in, first after he'd broken the being's ribs and then again when he pulled his arms back out over the jagged bones.

Lemmy was expecting something marvelous, not this feat of merciless cruelty, so he was duly horrified. With eyes wide and his expression anxious, fearful, upset, he fled the training room. Junior, not to be left behind, got up and ran after him. Morton, who was benching weights on the other side of the room, missed the whole happening. Wendy had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed the room to turn off Roy's CD player.

"Hey what gives, yo?" Her brother immediately protested. "Are you wearin' my shoes?"

"That was real sick, Roy." She stated, ignoring both of his questions.

Her brother gazed over at her and appeared confused. His body was already healing itself so the pain was no longer registering. The only thing on his mind was why his younger sister had stormed down here.

"What are you talking about?" He asked her.

Wendy narrowed her eyes and approached him. She didn't get too close, though, seeing as how his left side was splattered in blood. He noticed this and smirked.

"I saw what you did just now," Wendy explained.

"You did?" He grinned, "It was tight, wasn't it?"

"It was nasty, Roy." She grimaced, "Why would you do that? You're supposed to be training, not killing people."

"For starters, that thing ain't a person." Roy spoke with a mocking smile.

"It's a living, breathing creature," She argued, "It's not just some inanimate 'thing' whose sole purpose is to be slaughtered by you."

"Calm down, Wen." Roy spoke, rolling his eyes. "I ain't getting any fun out of killing these Koopas if that's what you think. I'm not some kind of satish or nothing."

"It's sadist," She corrected, "And I wouldn't say you aren't. You looked like you were having a pretty good time."

"Yeah, 'cause I was tryin' out a new move," Roy countered.

Wendy wasn't so convinced.

"I'm training, Wen." He said defensively, "What'd you think I'd be doing down here? If I'm gonna' be the best fighter in the world, I gotta' go all out."

"Oh please." Wendy scoffed at his ambitions.

"Besides," Roy remarked, "These Koopas can bounce back from just about anything."

"That doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to them, just because you know they'll heal." She insisted.

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong."

"Says you."

"Says every decent person in this castle."

"Not Ludwig."

"I said 'decent'."

Wendy paused. "Speaking of him, that's why I came down to here."

"What's up?" Morton suddenly asked.

He'd caught sight of his sister in between reps and had gotten curious enough to come over. He toweled down his face and bulky arms. He was as tall as his older brother Roy but was a bit bigger in terms of muscular build. MJ squinted, making the star-shaped scar over his eye contort.

"I need to talk to you guys about Ludwig." She said, "Come into town with me."

"No." Roy denied immediately.

"Why not?" She frowned.

He rolled his eyes and said, "You know why."

"This is important!" Wendy persisted.

Roy said with a hint of irritation, "It always is."

"I didn't know seeing your 'boyfriend' was such a big emergency," Morton snickered.

Wendy glared at him and said, "It's not about that. And he's not my boyfriend."

"If you don't wanna see that chump," Roy said, "Then what you wanna' go into town for?"

"You'll see." She promised, "Come on."

And, with them following or not, she headed back up the stairs. Roy at first looked put-out, then shrugged. He could train some more when he got back; if Wendy said it was important, whatever she wanted to talk about had to be important. It wasn't all the time she ventured down to the room that she deemed to be 'dirty, musty, and gross', after all.

Her brothers caught up to Wendy once she pulled open the door at the top of the stairs and stepped through. She led them past the throne room and through the kitchens. The kitchens was where Lemmy had fled to and he now came hurrying towards her.

"Where you going, Wen?" He asked.

"Into town," She said, pausing only for a moment.

Lemmy's eyes brightened. "Can I come?"

"No, baby, you're too small." She told him.

His face fell. "No I'm not!"

"Get lost, pipsqueak!" Roy cut in. "She said you can't come so move."

"You can't tell me what to do!" Lemmy declared.

Wendy said gently, "Sorry Lemmy, but this time you have to stay here. Next time I'll take you into town with me, I promise."

Lemmy mulled on that, then asked, "Can B-Jun come, too?"

"If he wants to." Wendy said quickly, mainly to get rid of him.

"Okay." Lemmy said, assuaged.

He guided his red-haired companion back into the kitchens as his elder siblings left the palace. They came to the courtyard next. There was a stack of potato crates about eight or nine feet high, with one placed at the front with its bottom busted out. The make-shift basketball goal was held together with lime green vectors that were coming from Iggy, who stood off to the side. Larry was off to the side using his magic to form a basketball so that he could do a layup and then vault himself in the air for a slam dunk.

"Larry! Iggy! Come on!" Wendy called.

Roy frowned. "You mean Brainiac and the twerp's coming with us, too?"

"You should really stop being so mean to your brothers," Wendy advised.

Larry came jogging over and couldn't keep the ball in his hands for all his showing off. He twirled it on one finger, rolled it over his shoulders and behind his head before Roy snatched it and popped it with one hand, making it shatter into a mess of shimmery blue light.

"Hey!" Larry cried out. "Why'd you do that!"

" 'Cause I felt like it," Roy shrugged. "Why? You gonna' do somethin' about it?"

"Yeah, you gonna' do something about it?" Morton echoed.

Larry balled his fists and said, "Shut your ugly face, Roy!"

"Why, you-"

"Listen!" Wendy interjected. "We're going into town because I need to talk to you all about something."

"Why can't we talk right here?" Larry asked.

"Ludwig might be listening." Wendy said, "The sooner you cooperate, the sooner you can be back here to go on about your business. Got it?"

"Tch. Whatever," Roy said, "Still don't see why the twerp has to come with us."

"Because the matter concerns us all." Wendy said in answer. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: My head is hurting so, so, super bad right now. I'm surprised I finished this chapter. Sorry if some of it seems dragging or redundant. I hope you like it nonetheless. **

**If you do or don't, please review! Your feedback would mean the world to me in my current sick-ish state. Until next time!**

**~DymonGold~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Nobody noticed that I used the wrong Disclaimer for the last chapter? I had some issues with FFN and my head was beating the mess out of me so I made some mistakes. I was surprised nobody said anything, I guess no one reads those notes after all :x**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews and the 'get well' wishes! They made me smile. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to the Mushroom Kingdom. Lol, technically it belongs to Nintendo but...we all know they have time shares in the Mushroom Kingdom so yeah :)**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

* * *

When I woke up, groggy and with a sore back, I noticed Daisy wasn't beside me. It was late into the afternoon, probably after twelve, and two empty coke cans were still on the coffee table. I stood and stretched my arms over my head, then bent down and picked up the blanket I'd gotten for me and Daisy. After I folded it up, I heard the water start running in the bathroom. Daisy must have woken up before me. I wonder if she got any more sleep after what happened. I know I did, but it was fitful rest because I was worried about her. That scream last night did things to me.

"Daisy?" I spoke in a raspy voice.

"I'm in here," came her quiet reply.

I figured she was in the bathroom. I stopped by the hall closet and grabbed a face towel before coming in there with her. She looked good, as usual. I couldn't even tell that anything was wrong by just looking at her. It was all in the eyes, those light eyes were troubled and detached again, going back and forth between the two emotions. On the outside she looked quite composed. She had her hands in her hair, tying it up today in a braided sort of knot that looked complex and neat. Around her neck was a chain that looped around twice like a choker. It was attached to a locket that rested above the collar of her dress. This one was made like a blouse at the top, with its white silk and cap sleeves, and at the bottom of her chest the silk gave way to a burgundy velvet fabric that hugged her waist and fanned out at the hips, flowing down over the tops of her feet. She moved from her hair to her ears as she clamped a pair of gold hoops onto them. Yes, on the outside she looked fine, but on the inside she was a mess.

"Good morning."

"Morning," I greeted her in turn.

I leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. She colored a tiny bit and smiled shyly for a moment, then turned and kissed me on the mouth. It was a tiny peck but it still made my heart stutter.

_I wonder if I should get that checked out, actually _

Daisy turned back to the mirror and moved over so that I could wet my towel and wash my face. After I did that, I grabbed my toothbrush. By that time she was finished and leaving, but before she got out of the bathroom I took her by the hand.

"Hey," I said softly, "Are you alright?"

"I'm..." She ducked her head and sucked in a quiet breath. "I'm fine."

I rubbed my hand up her arm and stepped closer to her. When I tilted her by the chin to face me, She did not look 'fine'. She looked incredibly blank-faced and placid, but that wasn't the same thing.

"Are we going to go out to eat again this morning?" she asked without feeling.

I said, "If you want to."

She was quiet so I didn't know if that was a yay or nay.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked. "If you wanted to tell me something about what was bothering you or-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She murmured.

"You don't have to be embarrassed or anything, Daisy." I assured her, "I just want to help you."

"I know," She replied, "And I appreciate it. I just...don't really want to speak on it right now"

"Alright." I relented, "That's fine. Whenever you're ready, then, you can talk to me."

"Kay," Daisy nodded.

I could wait. Besides, I had an idea about what the cause of her awful nightmare's was, so I wouldn't rush her. Whatever happened to her during her time at the palace was still traumatizing her to this day.

* * *

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"But I'm starving!"

"Shut up, twerp!"

"You shut up, Roy!"

"Both of you shut up," Wendy admonished with a sigh.

She was starting to regret taking her siblings on this impromptu excursion. They'd done nothing but complain or argue almost the whole way. The heat wasn't helping matters, either. All in all, she was trying to get to a certain secluded little area as quickly as she could.

_If only I could remember __exactly __where it was, _she thought to herself.

Behind her, Roy scoffed.

"Get a load of this guy, yo." He muttered.

Wendy looked to where he was scowling and saw a young man, sitting on the steps of his father's inn with his hands in his pockets and long, thin white reed in his mouth. It was Munson. He was squinting in the light of the high-noon sun, but when he caught sight of her he smirked and stood. He ran a casual hand through his thick, wavy brown hair and in the process revealed a tattoo on his wrist for all the world to see.

"Is that a _butterfly_?" Roy scoffed.

"It's a monarch," Wendy corrected.

"That's still a butterfly," Iggy supplied quietly.

His words reached his older brother and Roy clapped him on the shoulder appreciatively.

"See, Brainiac here knows," Roy told her.

"So what?" Wendy snapped.

"So he's a soft little punk," Roy replied. "A pansy. Just look at him, Wen."

She did look and saw that the eighteen year old was sauntering towards her and her entourage. He was dressed in fine clothes as usual; his loose red pants, lightweight burgundy vest and short-sleeved crimson shirt were not extravagant, but were better than the common man's garb. One could tell from his tailored boots and expensive bracelet that he was well-off. As he got nearer to Wendy, the siblings caught whiffs of his cologne. Roy narrowed his eyes while Larry pretended to gag. He gave them all a strange look but ultimately approached and spoke to only Wendy.

"Hey," He greeted coolly, "Didn't think I'd get to see you today, beautiful."

Wendy grew a bit more demure under the weight of his attractive blue eyes and clever smirk.

"This isn't really a social visit," She admitted. "I just wanted to know if you remembered where that place was."

"That place?" The young man arched a brow and asked, "You mean the one where we-"

"Yes." She answered quickly, "That one."

The innkeeper's son grinned knowingly and murmured, "You don't have to be embarrassed, Wendy."

"I'm not." She lied, and her blush gave her away.

Munson smirked at her claim and stepped closer to her, using his right hand to stroke the side of her face. His cool knuckles brushed her heated cheek and made something stir within her heart. But that warm, fluttery feeling was no match for the anxiety that brewed due to the fact that her brothers were all witnessing her in all her shy, girlish glory.

Roy was the first to react, stepping in between her and Munson. Morton was right behind him and together, with arms folded, they formed a two-man barrier between the young couple. Larry was looking highly amused while Iggy observed the unfolding scene silently. On the inside, Wendy sighed.

"Why don't you go crawl back into whatever hole you came out of," Roy scowled.

Munson cocked a brow and said, "Excuse me?"

"You got butterflies in your ears, too?" Roy mocked, "I said get lost."

"Beat it!" Morton added, "Scram! Vamoose!"

"What's it to you?" Munson cut in agitatedly.

Roy said, "You're tryin' to get next to our baby sister and I ain't havin' it."

"Sister?" Munson frowned. "Wendy, these are your brothers?"

Wendy elbowed past her two older siblings and gave Munson an apologetic look.

"Unfortunately." She answered.

"Hn." Munson sniffed, "Would've never guessed."

Roy shoved past Wendy again and sneered, "What you tryin' to say?"

"Yeah, you lookin' for a fight?" Morton instigated.

Larry perked and said, "Ooh, a fight!"

Wendy grabbed Roy by the arm and said, "That's enough, Roy. Let's just go."

"No," He said, brushing her off. "I wanna' hear what the punk has to say."

"Why don't you fuck off, tough guy." Munson spoke unwaveringly.

His words were clear and firm, but his body receded by one small step. Roy noticed this and a broad smirk spread across his handsome face.

"What's the matter?" Roy taunted, "Afraid of a fight?"

"Nobody's fighting," Wendy stated, trying to get through to him again.

Her words fell on deaf ears except for Iggy's, who glanced briefly in her direction.

"I'm not afraid of you, you club-faced brute." Munson sneered, though his actions said otherwise.

Roy's face contorted with anger and Munson stepped back again, less subtly this time. Wendy tried to intervene but Morton held her back, his eyes on his brother. Both he and Larry were eager to see what Roy would do, while Iggy looked incredibly unconcerned.

"I'll show you a clubbed face," Roy threatened.

He stalked up to Munson and the older boy backed up, unabashedly, until his back hit the side of a vegetable stand. A wisp of fear flashed across Munson's face as the stronger male invaded his personal space.

"Look here," Roy spoke in a low voice, "If you ever put your filthy fucking hands on my sister again while I'm around, I'll..."

"What is he saying?" Wendy demanded to know, "Morton, what is he saying?"

Morton, who held her back, could only shrug. She glanced to Iggy and Larry but none of them could hear because Roy had gotten so far away. Wendy felt a twinge of deja vu about the situation and was determined not to let her brother muck up her very first relationship. She summoned a coil of water from a trough where some horses were drinking from nearby, then smacked Morton in the face with it. He was caught off guard and released her. By the time she reached Roy and Munson, the conflict was over.

Roy shoved Munson away from him with a meaningful glare, making the 18 year old fall clumsily to the ground. Munson picked himself up quickly but his face was ashen and his hands, his hands were trembling?

_What did Roy say to him? _she wondered.

"Are you okay?" Wendy asked, glaring at her brother's back as he sauntered away.

She tried to touch his shoulder gently but Munson flinched hard and brushed himself off instead, trying to compose himself.

"M'fine." He muttered, "I guess I'll be seeing you then."

And he hurried off. Fled was more like it, but she was trying to lend him some dignity in the situation. Wendy stared after the retreating young man, forlorn for a moment, then turned and leveled Roy with a dark glower.

"What. Did you do?" She asked caustically.

He shrugged and said, "Just gave him a warning, is all."

"What did you say to him?" She demanded.

"It doesn't matter," He told her, "I think he got the message."

Wendy groaned and said, "Why do you have to be so...ugh, never mind. Let's just go."

The girl led her brothers further into the city and found the secluded area at last, tucked behind a tailor's shop and a butcher's place of establishment. She guided them to the expanse of soft grass that lay under the spread of a cluster of huge trees. Tiny, clandestine, sort of romantic with the bench-like logs set in a tight-knit circle. She sat down on one, the same one she and Munson had occupied a few days ago, and motioned for her siblings to gather round.

"Wendy, I'm starving!" Larry complained.

She told him, "The sooner we get this talk over with, the sooner we can go back to the palace and eat."

"But I'm so hungry!" Larry moaned.

"Just go right there to the meat man and get the twerp something to eat so he can shut up already," Roy said impatiently.

Wendy sighed, but did as he suggested and ended up buying sandwiches for them all. The bread at the baker's wasn't cheap, nor was the deli meat, but she had enough money. Once they were back in the shaded area eating, Roy confronted her on this.

"Where'd you get the money from, Wen?" He asked suspiciously.

"Ludwig gave it to me." She lied.

Roy couldn't tell, and shrugged at her answer. She lied because she knew of the conflict that would arise from his knowing the truth, that Munson had given it to her. And speaking of him.

"So that was your boyfriend, Wen?" Larry asked.

She said, "He wasn't my boyfriend."

"He was something," Roy scowled, then asked, "What do you see in that loser, anyway?"

"None of your business." She averted. "So don't ask me anything else about him. That goes for all of you. I didn't come out here to discuss my love life."

"You have a love life?" Morton chuckled.

"What's that?" Larry asked, confounded.

"I wanted to talk about Ludwig." She said, ignoring their questions.

"What about him?" Roy frowned.

"There's something wrong with him," Wendy stated.

Roy scoffed and said, "Yeah. He's a neurotic jerk."

"I'm serious," Wendy snapped.

"He _is _kind of a jerk," Morton told her.

"And he's always bossing us around," Larry declared around a mouthful of his sandwich.

Iggy said thoughtfully, "It's only because he's trying to look out for us."

Roy snorted.

"Look." Wendy said, "He's been edgy lately, extra touchy and aggravated."

"He's always that way," Roy argued.

"No, he's gotten worse." Wendy insisted, then in a soft voice she said, "He...he called me a whore."

"A what?!"

"No way!"

"What's a wh-"

"It's a bad word," Wendy cut in before Larry could finish.

Iggy was still quiet, but looked deeply troubled by her confession.

"That's not all," Wendy said, "I saw him in a lot of pain. He even threw up, right in his office."

"Whoa," Larry breathed, either in awe of the news.

"Are you sure?" Iggy asked worriedly, "Ludwig never gets sick."

"I know," Wendy nodded. "That's why I think something's seriously wrong."

"Like what?" Larry asked a little nervously.

"I'm not sure," Wendy said. "Whatever it is, it's really hurting him more than he's letting on."

"So what should we do about it?" Iggy asked.

"I don't see why we should do anything, yo." Roy shrugged, "If he's hiding the pain, he obviously don't want us to know about it."

"But what if this is serious?" Wendy asked, then intoned, "What if it could kill him?"

That silenced any and all opposition.

"I have an idea of how we can help," Wendy said, "But we'll have to keep this a secret."

* * *

"I'm really sorry about this," I said, not for the first time.

I said it before we even got inside the building. I don't know, I just felt compelled to apologize in advance for what I was about to do: expose Daisy to the horrible abomination that is fast food. I had told her in the car that the food would be unlike what she's used to in hopes of sparing her appetite. I didn't want to admit that some of the stuff I'd eaten in fast food places around here have been sub-standard, greasy, vomit-inducing, poorly handled, sloppily served, or all-out inedible. But it wouldn't be right to tell her of only my bad experiences. There were some days where I'd get lucky and get a box of hot, golden french fries or a clean, juicy...no. I take that back. I've yet to have a good, quality fast-food hamburger in all my twenty-six years of being on this earth.

"You don't have to be sorry," Daisy told me at the table, "It doesn't smell that bad."

I shrugged but pulled out her chair for her. The 'restaurant' was shabby and it had been hard to find a table as clean as the one we got to. Daisy really didn't seem to mind though. Couldn't she see that this place wasn't good enough for her? That this whole city wasn't good enough for her? That's the reason why I didn't want to bring her here.

"Do we get a menu here, too?" She asked innocuously.

I shook my head and said, "You can stay right here. I'll order at the front."

"Okay." She replied.

I was surprised she didn't fuss at me about ordering for her. The girl was fiercely independent so I had to attribute her current passivity to last night's episode. It was really messing with her. I wished so badly that she would talk to me about it, I had a lot of experience with personal demons and could help her. But I could wait. I told her I would wait.

In about five minutes I came back to the table with our food and saw Daisy staring pensively out the window. She smiled at the sight of the food.

"It smells good," She remarked.

I sat down and gave her the 'pseudo-breakfast' platter. She went about opening her fork and spoon set carefully. Her smile was faint and wistful as she popped the cover over the pancakes, eggs, and sausage plate.

"Why is everything so contained?" She asked.

I smiled, too, and said, "For uh, sanitary purposes."

"Ah." She nodded absently.

It took her a pancake and a half and some eggs to realize that I wasn't eating. I didn't mean to offend her, I just couldn't eat this morning. I wasn't in the mood.

"You're not hungry?" she asked me.

"Not really." I said. "I do have a question, though. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to."

"What is it?" She asked almost warily.

"Did Ludwig ever tell you about his relationship with um, you-know-who?" I inquired.

Daisy swallowed slowly and looked down into her lap for a minute. She gazed back up at me and shook her head.

"All I know," She stated, "Is that he really, really despised him. But I think we all did."

She stared at the tips of her fingers and let a sea of emotions pass over her eyes. Sadness warred with bitterness fought with hate. She looked up at me and I could see fear had taken over.

"Luigi can I tell you something?" She half-whispered.

"Anything."

"I don't." She struggled, "That is. I can't believe he's really dead."

"Bowser?"

Daisy nodded. "I wish I could've killed him. I don't care if that makes me an evil person, I just wish it was me who had killed him."

"That doesn't make you evil." I told her, "And I'm not saying that because I love you, though I think I'd probably still love you no matter how evil you are or aren't."

Daisy smiled wryly, briefly.

"I think you need closure." I said. "You just need proof that he really is dead, then you'll gain peace."

"I don't want to see him again, not even for closure's sake," She frowned, "I just wish I had been the one to kill him. Maybe then I wouldn't hear his voice, see him in my dreams, feel his hands all over my body."

Her words were giving me chills, making me sick to my stomach. I was so tempted to ask her what all he did to her, but I was too afraid. I didn't want to know what he did to her because I knew it would haunt me like it haunted her. Now if she, herself, volunteered this information, I'd not deny her a listening ear.

"What can I do to help you?" I asked. "Just tell me and I'll do whatever it takes to make you feel safe."

"I don't know," She said, at a loss.

I thought for a moment.

"You said you can't stop hearing his voice, feeling him on you and seeing him?" I blurted.

She nodded hesitantly, "I can hear him calling for me, telling me how bad he still wants to...but it's always in my dreams. I've been having them since that last battle, but last night was the worst one."

"Okay," I responded, "What if it was my voice you heard instead?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I think the best way to get rid of the old memories, or at least keep them at bay, would be to make new ones in their place." I proposed.

After this sunk in for a moment, the girl blushed a bit.

"Oh." She said. "You mean. I see."

"It's just an idea." I said quietly.

Daisy smiled softly and said, "It's a really good one."

* * *

Lemmy was confused.

There was one thing he was good at, besides acrobatics; it was stealth. He was the smallest of his siblings and he often used the fact to his advantage. He would be hidden for hours on end sometimes, tucked away in a corner or some other tight place, spying on his brothers and sister while they remained unaware. He didn't often succeed when it came to Ludwig, but he felt his eldest brother was much too skilled to trick. Bowser Junior, on the other hand, had no clue that he was peering around the edge of his bedroom door, watching the prince as he sat on the edge of his bed and talked to himself.

_His mouth is moving, words are coming out, but there's nobody else here, _the older child noticed, hence his confusion.

"B-Jun?" Lemmy spoke, deciding to reveal himself.

It was the quickest way to get to the bottom of this strange happening. Junior glanced up at him in the doorway and his jade eyes widened.

"Hello, Lemmy." Junior greeted softly.

"Who you was talking to?" Lemmy asked.

"Just now?" Junior asked.

Lemmy nodded.

"Oh." Junior said, "I was um, I was talking to my Daddy."

"Your Daddy?" Lemmy echoed, "Where he at?"

"He not in here." Junior explained, "He is in here, up here in my head."

Lemmy looked to where the child was pointing within his mess of red tangles and blinked in confusion.

"I don't know how you can even talk to somebody when they not here." Lemmy spoke.

"I don't know either," Junior admitted, "but my Daddy, he said not to worry about that."

"Oh." Lemmy responded. "What else your daddy said?"

Junior was quiet a moment, then said, "I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Lemmy then asked.

Junior opened his mouth, seemingly about to speak, but then he shut it again and stuck his thumb inside. Lemmy knew that this was a sign that his friend no longer wished to speak, and respectfully dropped the subject.

"Come on." He said, "Let's go play."

And with the former Crown prince in hand, he headed back into the kitchen with no more thoughts on the matter.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter was a little longer than the last and the update time wasn't bad either! I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday. **

**As for the situation with Luigi's headaches...yeah, they were just a coincidence. I like to throw those in just to keep things interesting, don't wanna' get too predictable. Speaking of that, if you noticed any redundancy or anything, please let me know; I don't want you to read boring chapters. **

**In the next chapter we'll see how Ludwig is faring and what his siblings are cooking up, as well as how our main couple is adjusting to life in Brooklyn. Until next time! **

**~DymondGold~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews! They made me smile.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to the Mushroom Kingdom. Lol, technically it belongs to Nintendo but...we all know they have time shares in the Mushroom Kingdom so yeah :)**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

* * *

The palace was quiet for once. No impromptu crashes or loud arguing or name-calling or anything. His siblings were either off to themselves or in town; either way Ludwig couldn't care less. He was just glad they weren't exacerbating his painful situation. His headaches had only gotten worse as the days progressed and were taking their toll on his mood and behavior. He wanted to rip something apart. There was hardly a moment where he didn't feel that constant, agonizing drilling at the base of his skull and that worrisome swelling inside his head. It took a great deal of energy to abate the pain to the point where he could still think straight and function on a daily basis. He knew he'd have to get to the bottom of this malady, and soon, or it would drive him insane.

"Your Majesty?"

_"What?" _Ludwig snapped.

That was his tone as of late. He was pissed all the time. He hardly ever wanted to talk to anyone, ally or subordinate alike. He just wanted to pound something, as his younger brothers Roy and Morton so eloquently say at times.

"The prisoners are in the throne room." The Koopa answered, unperturbed.

That was the good thing about having a slew of androgynous reptilian creatures under his command; he didn't have to worry about stepping on any toes.

Ludwig smirked at the news, and rolled his tense shoulders in vain. They'd need a massage, a deep one, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. No matter. He would soon find out just what was causing him so much strife.

The 19 year old ruler strode into his throne room and saw two crotchety old beings clad in tattered, filthy black robes and dirty shoes. Their papery grey skin, littered with sores and bruises, spoke of their ill treatment. But perhaps their treatment had been too ill; there were only two when there should've been three.

"Where's the other rat?" Ludwig asked quietly.

"Dead." One of the Koopas reported.

"Shame."

Having one less source of information was the source of his regret. He hadn't cared to see to their needs, nor to feed or give water to them. But somehow two had survived til now, so he'd have to make due with them.

_Certainly not much to them anymore, _he noticed.

The two magicians weakly stood on shaking, wobbly legs. They tried to keep their posture erect but their backs had gotten feeble in their hunched cells. Gone were the imposing trio who struck fear into the hearts of the denizens of the Badlands, gone were the tall and menacing beings who preyed on others and wielded an arsenal of spells and curses in the words that they spoke and the flicks of their long and crooked fingers. They were gaunt in the face and emaciated. Their eyes, already black and soulless, now appeared hollow and empty. There was still a bit of fight within both of them, though, provoked from the depths of their weakened bodies at the sight of the young man on the throne.

"Kneel." Ludwig commanded.

"Impudent little demon!" One of the magicians spat in immediate response.

The Koopas that had escorted the magicians advanced on the ancient beings but Ludwig held up a hand. He had a feeling that if the reptilians were too rough, it'd be the end of this interrogation.

Once more he said, "Kneel before your king."

The malice that sparked in their eyes told Ludwig just how set they were on refusing him. He sighed. With languorous effort he extended his hand and seized their shoulders with his magical vectors. With unforgiving force he slammed them down onto their knees and relished a bit in the sound their fragile bones made against the smooth marble floor. He knew they had to be in immense pain, but other than a pair of horrid grimaces that peeled across their faces, they showed no sign of it.

"Let me make this short," Ludwig murmured, "You two were closest to the bastard, you knew things about him that even he didn't know."

"What of it?" The one called Grimus interrupted rudely.

Ludwig's eye twitched before he shut the both of them and took a breath. He rose slowly from his seat and took measured strides towards the bound magician. He stared evenly down at the bitter elder, then backhanded him swiftly across the face. There was more bone than muscle and tissue in his jaw, so it did sting the younger being's hand a bit, but it was nothing Ludwig would let on. He gazed down nonchalantly at the blood and saliva on his knuckles and wiped them on the quivering magician's cheek.

"You should be more respectful towards your gracious king," He advised in a low voice.

Grimus was quivering from the rage festering inside him but kept astoundingly quiet. His companion could not. Rhimes muttered something beside him with his head bowed and stirred the violent young man's wrath once more. Ludwig reached over and gripped the kneeling magician's face roughly between his thumb and fingers.

"What was that?" He asked.

His voice laden with muted curiosity that was starkly gentler than the way he was squeezing the man's bony face. Rhimes met his eyes and glowered at him, unafraid. Neither of them were afraid. This aggravated Ludwig for some reason, though he'd never been one to dwell on or relish in the fear of others. Power, he longed for, but he valued acquiescence out of respect rather than fear.

_"You are not my king," _Rhimes hissed out nastily.

Ludwig regarded him coldly, distantly, for a moment. He knew they'd be difficult, but something in his mind was not taking their reaction well at all. He fought a curling sneer from his lips and instead remained blank-faced as he shoved the magician Rhimes' face away.

"I _am _your king," He declared solemnly, "whether you like it or not. And as your king, I demand you lift whatever curse it is you or the bastard has lain upon me."

They didn't move, just scowled. Ludwig's brow arched delicately.

"Well?" He prompted.

"Our loyalty," Grimus announced, "Is to the Great King Bows-"

"_Don't _speak his name!" Ludwig snarled.

That cool he had been fighting to maintain shook when he impulsively snatched Grimus by his pale and sickly-thin throat. He supposed, in the back of his mind, that he ought not get so worked up, but at the moment he was seeing red. It was the headache clouding his judgement, inhibiting his patience. At any rate, he had the old man by the neck at eye level with his legs dragged the floor limply, as useless to him as a rag doll's.

"Since you're so stuck on the bastard," Ludwig whispered next to the magician's waxy ear, "Why don't you join him in death?"

Swiftly he channeled enough energy to equate to about 800 volts of electricity into the magicians brain, effectively slaying him. Ludwig looked on at his handiwork, saw the fallen magician with his eyes bulging and his mouth grotesquely agape and his veins spindly, blackened, and prickled beneath his cheeks and forehead; all he could think of was what a great waste this was. He'd not get his answers if he kept going at this rate.

Ludwig turned to Rhimes and dropped Grimus thoughtlessly to the ground.

"Now do you feel inclined to speak?" He asked harshly.

Rhimes looked at the dead magician stoically, no sign of sympathy or pity or the like. He turned his dead eyes onto Ludwig's sharp, emerald ones and began to chant. Low, hissing whispers came pouring almost soundlessly out of his mouth until his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his body keeled over to the side, lifeless. Ludwig only sighed. He knew that incantation well, it was a spell to stop one's heart and off themselves. How convenient that the rat should know of it as well as he.

"Get rid of the bodies." He ordered of his guards.

Ludwig went over to his throne and sank back down into the large chair. They were right, this wasn't his throne, nor his palace, but for some reason he felt bound to this place. He frowned. The last thing he wanted was to remain in a place so reminiscent of the bastard. But until his own palace was finished in its construction, he'd have to remain here.

Again Ludwig looked at the dead magicians as his Koopas scooped them up. They were his greatest link to the bastard. Without them, he'd have to find some other way to find out what was ailing him and how to go about fixing it.

* * *

It was only out of fondness that he kept them at his side. They were young, too young for his tastes but not necessarily for the laws of his country. He knew how they felt about him but justified it in saying there were women much older that felt much more strongly than they. He knew they would do whatever he asked of them, no matter what, and rather than use that for his own depraved means as any lesser man would, he decided to encourage them to foster their own ambitions. Both of them refused to pursue a career that would distance them from his side, and so the both of them had become nurses.

His own studies centered around medicine and multi-species biology and anatomy. He was pursuing his dream of becoming a top-notch healer and was quite grateful to have the two helpful young things by his side, often to do the grunt work of retrieving files or sorting paperwork. He'd never seen anyone, or two for that matter, so pleased to run errands with him. They were twins, practically joined at the hip and glued to his side in all affairs. He didn't mind their clinging so long as they were bettering themselves and helping out.

Right now he was in town, surveying some of his people as they worked on building a new infirmary within the capital city. It would be bigger, cleaner, and more efficient than the last one. The other one was near the edge of town, hardly accessible, and with its archaic structuring and equipment, it was long-since outdated.

"It's coming along nicely, wouldn't you say Majesty?" One of the girls, Mina, spoke pleasantly.

Peasley turned to his left and nodded at the girl on that arm. The other, not to be ignored, had to chip in, too.

Nina said, "It'll be complete once you are there!"

The prince smiled softly and said, "Perhaps you mean to say when it's fully staffed with all the doctors and nurses and hands. I am but one of many physicians, and not even that, not yet."

His training had only just gotten underway about a month ago, and though he learned incredibly fast, he still had a long way to go before he was on par with the rest of the medical world of Bean Kingdom.

Not to be outdone, Mina praised, "So humble!"

"But we all know, Majesty, that you will be the best, once your training is done." Nina added quickly.

"Indeed," Mina agreed, "There is none so talented as you, Majesty, to be a ruler and general and physician all in one!"

And at that, both the girls stood up on their toes and kissed him on the cheek simultaneously. They had a habit of doing that. He smiled a little but shrugged out of their embrace and turned them both by the waists to face him. Tucking a finger under their chins, he gazed at them both alternately.

"Mina, Nina," He said, "I believe it is time for you to return to the Academy."

"No!"

"We don't _have _to go!"

Peasley said with a wry smile, "Oh, but you do want to help me, don't you?"

"Of course!" They spoke earnestly as one.

He said, "Then you must return and excel in all your classes. Only the best may earn a place at my side."

Peasley didn't give them time to protest anymore, he took one of their hands and kissed them fondly, then dipped his head and left for the palace. The truth was, he needed to be alone. He was doing very well with his training, that was true, and the citizens of Bean Kingdom felt almost the same way as his two chickens that followed him around. The turmoil with Cackletta had been resolved, she was locked in a maximum security cell warded with twenty different levels of magical seals. The Dark King was dead, thanks in no small part to his best friend. Life was calming down and he was on top of it all.

_So why do I feel..._

He couldn't explain it. There was a tugging feeling inside of him, something he couldn't quite put into words but was prevalent enough to give conscious thought to. He knew it was something to do with his parents, and so it was no surprise to him when he found himself being inexplicably pulled towards their wing of the palace once he arrived. He approached their bedroom door with severe caution. He hadn't been there in quite some time.

_What is this feeling? Why can't I be content? Everything's going really great so why...why..._

Peasley pulled back both of the ornate wooden doors and shivered at the low, resounding groan they emitted as he entered. He shut the carefully behind him, then turned round.

He started to cry.

At first he didn't know it, no, he was much too focused on the bed. The lavish four-poster canopy furnishing was just as his mother would have liked it, made up with its pillows straight and neat and the corners of the comforter safely above the beige carpet floor. The room still smelled faintly of them, mixed with the scents of dust and age and stale air. He crossed the room soundlessly and caught sight of himself in the vanity mirror. Only then did he see the steady stream of tears flowing down his face, pooling under his chin and dripping onto his collared shirt. He saw his mother in his eyes and in his mouth, though his wasn't curved softly in muted amusement as hers often was. He lacked his father's particularly vivid, olive-green hue and was sad for it, for that was the main thing that tied him to his sire. In personality, he had his father's with and sly charm, his mother's keen fashion sense and tender heart.

He had to look away.

On the vanity's surface top he first saw his father's gloves. A bit yellowed and coated in dust they were. He gingerly plucked them from the vanity with trembling hands and the lump in the back of his throat grew. Peasley stroked careful fingers over the thick, silk items and slowly brought them to his nose: they still bore traces of his sire's cologne. He closed his eyes and brushed them against his cheek as kindly as his father would and then shuddered when a jolt of emotion ricocheted from his heart to his head and back again. He dropped the gloves and traded them for a glass tube of his mother's lipstick. A gift from the plumber Mario they were, a token of his appreciation for some kindness or the other of his mother's. The shade was a ripe lime that went so well with her natural pigment and many a time he recalled seeing the color spread across her lips as she donned a bright and joyful smile. He picked the tube up almost reverently, uncapped it, and ran his thumb along the top of the stick. He smeared the color between the pad of his thumb and his index finger and blinked, pushing out another spring of tears in doing so.

He carried the tube with him over to the bed. He walked slowly, so slowly, and it felt more like he was drifting, floating. He felt faint in the head and heart and could vaguely notice his body trembling. He could see it when he extended one hand to pull back the sheer white canopy, could feel it when his legs made those last few steps towards the bed.

Spread along their places were the last outfit he ever saw them in. On his mother's side was her long, elegant green gown. Forest green and shimmery with long sleeves and a lace trimmed bodice, it was the quintessential garment of grace, beauty, benevolence. It spoke of her love and her soft heart. On his father's side was his long grey coat, the one that swallowed Peasley up when he was younger and went into his father's arms for a hug. He started to run a shaking hand over the shiny black buttons but stopped and crumpled his fist. Shedding his boots in an instant, he climbed up onto the bed and lay on his side, right between the two of their garments like he used to when he was troubled or scared or lonely.

_There was a time, when I got older, where the thought of laying with them again seemed childish, immature...if only I could just have one moment with them, just five seconds even..._

So often he had taken his parents for granted. They were always quite close, but there were times when he saw fit to be embarrassed, or even ashamed of them. His mother, sweet as she was, made a habit of picking at his hair and clothes and nagging him in front of everyone. And his father was not exempt, what with his great big barrel chest and muscled arms. He was big and clumsy at times, and often could not do the fine dances that were commonplace at parties and gatherings. While the kingdom laughed merrily with their king, Peasley had been ashamed and embarrassed. If only his father were here to wrap his great big clumsy arms around him now.

Peasley sniffed and reached behind him to grab his father's cloak, wrapping the thing around him tightly. This would have to do. He was shaking, tears were falling relentlessly, he was ruining his mother's dress as he held it tightly to himself and buried his face in it. He was grieving. Had he not grieved til now? Of course not. There was no time to. Not on the day of the incident, what with the palace being thrown into a tizzy. He'd been struck himself, sick to his stomach and writhing in agony.

"...mama..." He whispered, an echo of his cries on that fateful day, "...papa..."

His parents had never come to him.

His parents had died.

They were gone and they were never ever coming back. God, had he never grieved til now? They were gone. He was alone now, no more of his mother's kisses, his father's embraces. Gone.

No.

Peasley sat up suddenly, eyes puffy but determined. His parents, they wouldn't want him to wallow. He had not grieved til now; he had responsibilities. So many had lost relatives in that Great War that he'd pushed his own loss aside and had stood strong for his people. He had to take the throne, he had to protect them in a world where the Dark King reigned. There was no Dark King now, but there was still work to be done so he couldn't wallow.

_Father, he would want me to fulfill my every ambition, _Peasley knew, _and mother, she loved this kingdom with her whole heart. She would want me to take care of her people. And so I shall. But right now._

Peasley's body shook with another bout of sadness and he bit the inside of his lip, pressed his lips together so as not to cry. He laid back down in his parents' bed and dove under the sheets. Right now he had to grieve.

* * *

If someone were to ask if she hated her older brother, she'd probably have to say no. Not really. Back when he was a bit younger and had more of a heart and less of an ego, he'd given her a portable radio. The thing was wonderful and was coming in handy a lot today. Or rather, tonight, seeing as how it'd gotten dark since she'd left the Badlands. She'd put some planning into this trip; she'd found two maps on where her destination was located and had packed enough provisions so that she wouldn't need to stop. What she hadn't fully taken into account, however, was how much of a drag traveling with her brother could be. She wanted to do this alone, but since that wasn't possible she'd only chosen to take Roy. Between his obnoxious attitude in general and his tendency to take more than his share, they kept arguing over which route they should take and were almost out of food and water.

But that's where the music came in.

So long as she had her radio, Wendy was alright. She knew that they were at least in the vicinity of their destination. She and Roy had set out east of the Badlands very early that morning. The maps said they were close but neither could find it. There was a town they'd passed through, but it was like a ghost town. Not a soul was present for them to ask directions from.

_Not that Roy would've bothered, _Wendy thought_. _

She walked alongside her horse while Roy did the same ahead of her. In truth she admired her brother, to an extent. He was tall and lean, athletic and slightly muscular but not too beefy like Morton. His haircut was kinda played out in her opinion, but his face wasn't bad to look at. As far as brothers went, he could've been more unfortunate. And he did have his ways. Sometimes he'd have moments where he'd exhibit thoughtful, considerate, or even kind behavior. He just liked to pretend he was all hard and tough because he wanted to be more like his eldest brother Ludwig. She looked up to him, too, just not as much as she used to.

_He's gotten selfish, secretive, cruel, _she mused, _I wonder if this power is going to even him out now that he's gotten what he wants. Or will it only make him worse? More cruel and selfish? _

"We're going in fuckin' circles, yo!" Came Roy's frustrated proclamation.

Wendy rolled her eyes and turned her radio down atop the horse. That was another thing. Her older brother had started to curse a lot more.

"You know you're not supposed to swear like that." she reminded him.

He snorted. "Says who?"

"Ludwig." She shot back.

"Well he ain't here, is he?" Roy replied, "Besides, he swears more than me. You should hear him sometime."

Wendy didn't doubt his words, in either case. She could recall walking past this particular clearing once or twice before. She sighed and gazed up at the rapidly darkening evening sky, then plopped down to sit in the clearing.

"We have been going in circles." She muttered.

"Told ya'." Roy shrugged.

"This was a blank trip." Wendy frowned.

"Yeah, pretty much." Roy agreed.

Wendy shivered, then held her arms around her knees. She dipped her head against her legs and gazed off to the side, thinking. The map said the place was just uphill, but they went uphill and saw nothing. All the area around the hill yielded no results either. She was feeling frustrated and despondent. Roy could see this in his little sister and sighed a bit to himself. He loved all his siblings, annoying as they were to him, especially his sister. She was someone he felt he needed to protect, like Lemmy and Larry and Iggy. He didn't want to see her down, it made him feel all funny inside.

"Hey," He said in his softest voice, "Don't act like that."

He tied their horses to a tree and came to sit by the girl. Roy ran a hair through his cropped pink hair and then wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders. Finally Wendy looked up at him with surprised blue eyes.

_Now this is what I was talking about, _she thought, _I knew he wasn't a complete tool. _

She leaned into her brother and said, "So I guess we gotta go back to the palace, right?"

Roy shrugged. "Yeah, but we'll think of something else to get Lu better."

"You think so?" Wendy questioned.

Roy just hunched his shoulders again. He stared straight ahead but out the corner of his eye, he could see Wendy's expression relax, lose some of that forlorn weight. It brought him some relief.

"Baby sister can I-"

"Don't call me that." Wendy cut in.

Roy smirked and asked, "Can I ask you something personal then, Wen?"

"I guess." Wendy answered warily.

"Have you ever, uh," He struggled. "I mean, you ever um."

Now Wendy was curious. She didn't see her brother as often as she used to since the palace was a whole lot bigger than the bunker, so she was intrigued with whatever could ruffle him enough to make him blush.

"You ever...let that punk touch you?" He muttered. "I mean...like _touch _you?"

Wendy colored next and snapped, "No! Why would you think that?"

"I ain't think nothin'," Roy shot back, "I was just making sure."

"For what?" She hissed, "Did Ludwig put you up to that?"

"No."

"Are you keeping tabs on me now?" She demanded.

Roy rolled his eyes. "No. Wen, just-"

"What are you, his minion?" She jeered.

Roy narrowed his eyes and told her, "Would you shut ya' trap for one second so I can explain? Damn."

"Okay," She said, folding her arms heatedly, "I'm listening."

Roy opened his mouth but suddenly Wendy's baby blue eyes widened at the sight of something ghastly behind her brother. Roy turned his head and saw the thing hovering, then was promptly licked right in the face by its over-sized red tongue.

"Ugh! Gross!" Roy frowned.

The thing chuckled in a high pitched tone, then started racing away. Er, floating away.

"Get back here, you little motherfucker!" Roy growled.

_That's another thing, _Wendy noted, _Roy's temper is so much shorter. Or am I just reading too much into this? _

As her brother chased the strange floating creature, Wendy untied the horses and packed up their belongings. She hurried to where her brother's footfalls were resounding throughout the empty woods and soon came upon that same hilltop from before. Roy was chasing the white thing when it suddenly disappeared into thin air, right at the top of the hill. Poor Roy, he went running after it and was met with sturdy resistance as his body crashed into something that the naked eye could not perceive.

"What the hell?" Roy muttered as he picked himself up.

Wendy was in awe as well. He stepped back and stood beside Wendy as an ancient but elegant, Victorian-era mansion began to ripple into view. The doors on it swung open and from it came striding out a man that made butterflies flutter in the pit of a certain blonde-haired young girl.

Long black hair with a streak of dark grey that was clipped back off to the side. Violet eyes that entranced her and a dangerous smile that spoke of darkness and this person's love of it. a small, sharpened tooth glinted at her from the corner of his mouth and stirred something inside her that Munson had left yet unkindled. She swallowed when she saw the rest of his body; slight frame, able build, garbed in sharp black clothing of the same era as his estate. He saw her staring and closed his mouth in a smirk, lifting his brow knowingly. She knew what this was; the makings a crush.

"Lovely children shouldn't be out after dark," This being spoke, striding right up to them.

Offended, Roy spat, "I ain't no child, yo."

Wendy resisted the urge to roll her eyes and said, "Are you-"

"King Boo," The male spoke with that same amused smirk.

He bowed for Roy and reached out to take Wendy's hand, then turned it palm side up and licked it. Wendy jerked her hand back, but couldn't deny that she'd slightly enjoyed the strange contact. She wiped her hand on her red snake-skin pants nervously.

"I'm Wendy," The girl greeted in turn, "And this is my brother Roy. We came to you because um, my brother is quite sick."

"Well I'm no doctor, little girl," King Boo drawled, "But I'd have to say your brother looks fine to me. That is, if you mind not the odd color of his hair."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with my hair," Roy sneered.

Wendy ignored him.

"This isn't the brother I'm referring to," She informed the king, "His name is Ludwig. I believe you know him well?"

King Boo's violet eyes alighted. "Ah! Ludwig! My boy, how is he?"

"He's sick," Wendy stated again, "That's why we came to you. We thought you might be close to him?"

She voiced her response as a question, which was highly indicative of her insecurity in her own research on the matter. King Boo's eyes grew fond for a moment as he spoke again.

"Yes, very close," He said.

"So can you help us or what?" Roy blurted impatiently.

Wendy nudged her brother and gave him a reproachful look, to which he mouthed, 'what?' as if he didn't see the error in his behavior. King Boo was all the more amused.

"What would you have me do?" King Boo wanted to know.

"Could you come back with us?" Wendy implored.

"As I've said, I'm not a doctor," King Boo reminded her.

"Yeah, but, this isn't a sickness. Ludwig never gets sick." Wendy stated, "Not like that kind of sick. I think it's something else, like a curse or something."

"Ah." King Boo hummed.

Something seemed to dawn on him then.

"I believe I know what the problem is," He said, "And I may be able to help my dear enforcer."

"Great!" Wendy beamed. "So you'll come back with us? We should make it there by morning if we leave now."

"Oh, nonsense!" King Boo interrupted, "You must stay the night! It's already late, and I've got supper almost finished."

"Wait a minute," Roy perked, "You got eats?"

"No, Roy, we have to get back to the palace to help Ludwig." Wendy argued.

Roy scoffed and said, "One day ain't gonna' kill him. Besides, I'm starvin' yo."

She was hungry, too, and she really didn't think that one day would hurt, as Roy had said. She glanced up at King Boo.

"Are you sure we wouldn't be imposing?" She asked, "We could stay at an inn."

At that word Roy's face twisted into a perturbed scowl. King Boo's expression gave way to something mischievous as he gazed down at the fifteen-year-old.

"No, children, stay the night." He coaxed, ushering them inside, "I insist."

And suddenly Roy lost his insatiable appetite.

* * *

**A/N: These chapters are quite short, I know. If I do longer ones, the wait would be unbearable, for both you and me, so I must make due with doing a little at a time. **

**Next chapter we will check in with Luigi and Daisy, and see how Ludwig handles his siblings' meddling once more. And oh Wendy; I empathize with her because I had a ton of crushes on older dudes when I was a teenager, I guess now that I'm twenty it's justified, haha. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please tell me what you think so far! Like I said, everything will be sort of copacetic up until about three or four chapters from now, when there is a time skip of about a month and things get dark, so enjoy the light while it lasts! **

**Until next time...**

**~DymondGold~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews and Feedback!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to the Mushroom Kingdom. Lol, technically it belongs to Nintendo but...we all know they have time shares in the Mushroom Kingdom so yeah :)**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

* * *

I don't think I've ever seen Daisy so excited as this afternoon. She was practically glowing behind that thousand-watt smile: today she'd gotten a job. I couldn't really share in her enthusiasm, not all the way. I was still kinda worried about her. Even though it was a day job with only fifteen hours a week, I was still concerned for her. She would have to be at this place without me, in a city that she wasn't familiar with. Places got robbed and people got shot, I hear it on the news all the time. I really don't know how I'd deal if anything were to happen to her.

_She's a grown woman, _I reasoned, _twenty-three years old and highly capable of defending herself. She's intelligent and resourceful, she can handle being on her own. She did have to move from Sarasaland to the Mushroom Kingdom, so I know she's adaptive._

"Luigi?"

I glanced down at her with a brow raised in question. She sat at the desk in her future employer's office in the back of the store.

"What's your address?" She wanted to know.

I told her what it was and looked over her shoulder as she copied the information down onto the white paper form in front of her. She didn't have much to fill out since she didn't have any traceable work history or contactable references. Forget about a decent resume; the girl was like a young teenager fresh into the working world. Finding someone to hire would be sort of hard, unless she happened upon some owner looking for a pretty face to model but that was hardly something that interested Daisy. She was more of a hands on, interpersonal kind of girl. That's why I decided to call in a favor from an old friend of my brother's.

Mr. Lestrange was the private owner of a shoe store, one that branched off of a bigger chain centralized in Compton, California. It was a decent place, geared more towards women, and from what I heard it paid fairly well. About the favor; well, not once or twice or even three or four times, but _five _times Mr. Lestrange's house flooded over the course of a couple years. The source was a busted pipe that could have been taken care of in one go but every time his house would flood, he would run to Scapelli's solely on the basis of their big name. All they were doing was just fixing the problem temporarily, employing a tactic that would ensure Mr. Lestrange would have to call them back again after some time; they were making a killing off of him and others with the underhanded practice. It was after the fifth incident that Lestrange finally took a chance on me and my brother. After we got in there and did our thing, he had no more issues. He's been begging for a way to pay us back ever since, claiming that our rate was too cheap for him and his conscience to be satisfied. Mario always said, 'easy pay for an easy job' and refused to take any other reward, but if Daisy really wanted to work, I felt like this would be the safest and most convenient environment for her.

"I'm finished," She announced, glancing first at me and then at Mr. Lestrange.

Despite his odd name and even odder curled mustache, Mr. Lestrange was a good man. I knew I wouldn't have to worry about him making a move on her, or trying to get over on her. She handed him her application and he barely glanced over it.

"Thank you," Mr. Lestrange smiled, "As I said, this is just for formalities' sake; I need to have something on file for you just in case something were to happen."

"Not that anything would happen, right?" I stated with a cocked brow.

"Right." Mr. Lestrange nodded. "Everything is in order for you to begin working, Miss Daisy. All you must do now is pick up a uniform; the young woman at the front desk can help you with that."

"Alright." Daisy grinned.

She made for the office door and so did I, but then I stopped. I turned to the man that was settling in behind his desk, shuffling some paperwork and leaning forward in his rolling chair and peering over some files.

"Mr. Lestrange?" I spoke quietly.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Thanks." I said, "Thanks for this. It really uh, means a lot."

Mr. Lestrange was silent. Then, "Thank _you_, Luigi. You and your brother did more than just fix an old busted pipe. You kinda' restored my faith in the folks down here in Brooklyn."

That's right, Lestrange was from California. It did make me feel a little better to know he realized not everybody in Brooklyn were as shady as that company. I shrugged, though, and smiled sheepishly.

"It was really all Mario in that instance," I admitted.

Lestrange said, "And how _is_ your brother?"

"He's been uh," I struggled for the right words, then settled on, "he's been good. He's getting married soon."

"Oh is that so?" Lestrange beamed pleasantly. "Where is he?"

"He moved to another country," I explained, "His wife is ah, foreign."

"I see." Lestrange nodded. His smile turned wry when he said, "I see you're following in his footsteps."

"Huh?"

"That young woman is quite lovely, and charming too." He observed, "A good match for you, I'd say."

"Yeah," I said in response. "She's uh. She's..."

How could I put everything that I loved about that girl into words? She was perfection to me. There was no other way to describe her. And speaking of her, she came back into the office with her uniform hugged against her chest.

"Thanks so much for this," She said to Lestrange, "I can't wait to start!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to," Lestrange stated, "I have to get your information into the system and that'll take about a day or two. How 'bout you come in next week?"

"Cool," Daisy replied.

I nodded to the man and led Daisy out of the office, out of the large store and back outside where my car was parked. I glanced at her uniform and noticed it was a dress. A black one with a green shirt folded under it as well.

"Thank you, too, Luigi." Daisy said after she got into the car.

"No problem," I said easily.

Before I could start the engine, she leaned over and kissed my cheek. Her mouth was soft, her lips pushed right against the corner of my own. I turned towards her and kissed her full on.

"You have to go back to work before me," She predicted.

I watched her buckle herself in and nodded.

"You'll be at the apartment alone," I told her, not for the first time asking, "You'll be okay, right?"

"Yup." She answered, "I'll probably just watch tv 'til you get home."

"No, you don't have to wait up for me," I said, "I get off pretty late."

Too late than I was now comfortable with. I was dreading leaving this girl because every moment away gave my mind invitation to conjure up every possible scenario that could go on without me there with her. I guess I'll just have to get used to this, though, otherwise I'd smother the girl with too much attention. I didn't want to be overbearing, but I couldn't stop worrying about her. She was the greatest good in my life and I didn't want to lose her.

* * *

_I don't really need these things, my eyes. Not really. They're more trouble than they're worth to be honest. Being blind won't be so bad. I could manage. Lots of great men have triumphed over blindness, why can't I? Plucking them out would be easy, just a clean scoop to each one and the deed is done._

His emerald eyes were closed as he contemplated this gruesome act of self-mutilation with relative ease. That is, as much ease as one could muster under the circumstances. His head was yet pounding, his stomach most often rejected every attempt he made at filling it, and his jaw was painfully locked up. He could hardly move it around so speaking and eating were laborious tasks. And of course his eyes; the pain had spread to his eyes now and that was something he just couldn't deal with. His eyes were probably his most valuable organs, next to his skin and heart and lungs. He knew without them he wouldn't be the keen, perceptive creature he was to this day but they were hurting him so badly that he truly entertained the thought of ripping them right out of their sockets.

Ticking.

Something was ticking. Ludwig opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the pile of papers in front of him on the desk he'd moved into his closet of an office. His throbbing eyes roved over the rest of the desk and caught sight of the clock standing near the corner of the wall.

_When did that get there? _He frowned as he failed to recall ever seeing it before. His mind was foggy and it hurt to think.

"What is going on?" he muttered to himself.

The closet used to be quiet and conducive to productive behavior but now it seemed too small, too dark and too stifling. With a sigh that taxed his stomach muscles Ludwig stood shakily and grabbed his reed pen and his paperwork. He moved from the closet and asserted his magic vectors over the major areas of pain. By the time he got close to the kitchens, he'd managed to force the blind spots from his eyes and the shooting pinpricks from the back of his skull. His efforts hardly gained him much relief but it was all he could do at the moment.

Once he got inside the empty kitchens he strode over to one of the tables and promptly swept the dishes and utensils atop it onto the floor. He slapped his paperwork onto the counter-top and laid his palms flat on either side of the stack. The kitchen staff doubled as palace hands so they were out around the castle, minding their chores. This room was empty, quiet. He could think here, right?

Apparently not.

As Ludwig read over the prospective notes of legislature, he had to keep blinking every five seconds because his eyes would get dry and itchy. Then his vision began to blur and he found himself reading the same line over and over again. He couldn't concentrate, not even in a place of absolute solitude. Wait a minute.

Mumbling.

He heard it, soft and frustrated little grumbles and weak growls coming from his far right. Ludwig turned his aching head slowly in that direction and saw what he'd neglected to notice when he first stormed into the room: the munchkins. Lemmy was sitting at that small table across from Bowser Junior, who was the source of the noise. While his brother was messing around with some white dough, stained black in some areas from his grubby little hands, Bowser Junior sat with his hands clasped in his lap. His head was bowed, giving the elder royal a view of his tangled red hair and two stubby little ivory horns. The boy's mouth was moving every now and again, but his words were hushed and indecipherable. Just the thing to irritate the navy-haired young man.

"Be quiet." Ludwig ordered in a voice somewhat more gentle than usual as of late.

Both children snapped their heads over to Ludwig and blinked owlishly, as if he were speaking French or something. A moment passed where Ludwig was satisfied his message had been conveyed and then he turned back to his work. His eyes, they stung and burned the longer he kept them open but he was nothing if not perseverant, which was really his way of labeling his own stubbornness. He strained to make out the tiny script on the parchment and then, some minutes later, slammed his hands down onto the counter and rounded on the children.

"Won't you cut that muttering out?" He snapped.

Bowser Junior started, his eyes widening a bit upon being yelled at. He caught control of his quivering lip quickly, though, and just bowed his head again. Only this time he was silent, his red lips pursed tightly. Lemmy witnessed this and, never being one to tolerate any semblance of bullying or unfairness, was moved to respond. He faced his brother without an ounce of deliberation and raised a brow.

"Lu, you shouldn't yell at B-Jun," He spoke softly, "He not even muttering. He was talking to his..."

Junior's head had shot up then, and very fearfully he shook his head twice at his best friend. Lemmy had seen the gesture and thus trailed off, mildly piquing Ludwig's interest.

"Talking to who?" Ludwig asked with a ghost of a smirk, "His imaginary friend?"

Bowser Junior's face slated off once more but Lemmy looked torn; he couldn't decide if he should leave his older brother to his mocking, being none the wiser of the truth, or defend his best friend once more and perhaps risk spilling something incriminating. He knew not of that particular word, but he was precocious enough to know that there would be bad consequences if Ludwig found out about Junior's paternal communication. So he stayed silent with a disturbingly grave face for a seven year old.

Ludwig, sobering from that brief bit of humor at the young prince's expense, frowned and left his work. He crossed the kitchen and came towards the little boys. Pulling up a third chair that was much too tiny for Larry or Iggy, let alone him and his nineteen-year-old self, Ludwig collapsed into the wooden thing with his legs sprawled. He tossed his head back and shut his eyes, then drove the heels of his palms into his sockets.

_Relief. Fleeting relief, _he sighed.

Bowser Junior lifted his head once more at the ex-enforcers arrival to their personal corner. He glanced at Ludwig warily, then mouthed something to Lemmy, who mouthed something back, and so on until the older child reached a conclusive plan of action. He at first cleared his throat and then, when that garnered no attention, tapped lightly on his brother's stomach. Ludwig cringed and made a humming sound of acknowledgement.

Very bluntly Lemmy told him, "You can't sit with us."

Now Ludwig cracked open his emerald eyes and leveled an impatient glance at his sibling.

"What?" He frowned.

"You can't sit with us." Lemmy repeated frankly.

"And why not?" The weary ruler inquired, mildly intrigued that his own brother was ousting him from their diminutive domain.

Lemmy explained cryptically, "Because, um, because he don't like you."

"Who?"

Lemmy cast a wavering glance at Bowser Junior who, blank-faced, shook his head almost imperceptibly. Ludwig took their tacit communication to mean it was the former Crown Prince who called for his departure and scoffed softly to himself. He could understand why he wouldn't be the brat's favorite person in the world.

"Hey Iggs, how 'bout we make some-Whoa!" Larry's voice cut in loudly.

He and his thirteen year old brother came striding into the kitchen, rooting around for something to eat. When Larry saw his older brother slumped in the too-small chair, he'd nearly laughed, thinking the ex-enforcer had been guilted into some long-overdue playtime with his youngest sibling. But then Larry caught sight of Ludwig's red-rimmed eyes and dour scowl and frowned.

"Whoa," Larry breathed again, "You don't look so good."

Ludwig just frowned.

Iggy was staring at his oldest brother with a strange, observant expression but said nothing.

"Are you getting sick?" Larry wanted to know.

"Don't worry about it." Ludwig said dismissively.

He came up to his brother until his knees were level with Ludwig's nose. Ludwig could sense him there but had his eyes shut again. Gazing in confusion at him, Larry reached down and laid the back of his hand over his brother's pale forehead. Sweaty, clammy, cold; he felt these things and was worried.

"Maybe you should call a doctor." Larry suggested. "That's what I told Wen."

Ludwig rolled his eyes and immediately regretted it, for it was a painful thing to do now. He knitted his brow and bent over his knees, cradling his head.

"And where is your sister?" He asked with a stiff jaw.

"She's um, out." Larry stated evasively.

"Is Roy or Morton with her?" Ludwig asked.

He would have preferred both.

Larry said, "Roy's with her."

Ludwig took solace in that. Pig-headed and rash as his brother was, Roy shared in his dislike of that little punk Wendy was so keen on seeing. If Roy was with her, Ludwig knew she wouldn't get up to any trouble where the inn-keeper's son was concerned.

_Good, _Ludwig mused, _one less thing I have to worry about. _

* * *

_Like a red nose_

_Li-Li-Li-Li-Like a red nose _

_Like a red nose _

_Like a red_

_Like a red _

_Like a red nose_

It had to be the music. No way could those meaningless, base lyrics entrance her to the point of stealing her focus completely. Her attention was hopelessly undivided and her eyes, light and hooded, were glued to the television screen as the music video played out. She wasn't too fond of the dance, either. It was primeval, lusty and scandalous. She couldn't picture herself or any self-respecting female to actually bend over with her posterior right against some man's groin while she ground and gyrated her hips seductively.

_But that music, _Daisy frowned, _I've never heard anything like that before. It's so..._

Hypnotic. Entrancing. The tv volume was pretty high, but Daisy slowly stood, remote in hand, and turned it up even louder. She couldn't be bothered to worry about her neighbors and Luigi wasn't home right then, he was at work. She had the apartment to herself for the night. She could do what she wanted, and what she wanted to do right about then was dance. The music, it was contagious, it made her feel hot and feverish inside, like she just had to move. The song's lilting bass-line penetrated her ears and pulsed in time with her heartbeat. A nervous smile twitched along her mouth as she rose in the dark living room.

Her hands and bare feet were sweaty; she'd had this anticipation before, whenever she was trying something new for the first time. Granted, this was a lot different than horseback riding or jumping into battle, but the sensations were the same. As the song droned on, she summoned that boldness and moved her hips in the same way that the girl was doing in the video. Her movements were more chaste and less exaggerated than the girl's on tv's were though.

Very soon Daisy found the appeal in the way those girls were dancing. As her body moved with the beat of the song, slowly and rhythmically, her smile grew. Part of her felt silly, convinced she wasn't correctly performing the moves she'd previously criticized. Part of her also felt...good?

_Sexy? _she chanced, but only in her head.

She sank to the floor then and laughed to herself. Her body felt tingly and buzzed, like she'd gotten a shot of electricity.

"That's enough of that," She smirked, turning the station.

The further she got from that channel, the more her excited vibe began to tone down. She knew she was something of a hypocrite for scorning the girls in that music video, but she now knew why they danced that way. The music encouraged those movements; deep base and smooth dancing went hand in hand. But in the back of her mind she had a feeling that probably wasn't the best program on television to watch.

Daisy crossed her legs and scratched the top of her head idly, loosening her high ponytail. She had a good amount of hours left until Luigi returned. She'd already bathed and eaten, so there wasn't much left for her to do other than watch tv. She hadn't found any books around and wasn't totally comfortable with digging through Luigi's things to finds any. So tv it was. Only there wasn't much to watch.

"So many channels," She mused quietly, "but not much to watch."

She flipped through unsavory cartoon shows, confusing 'reality' programs, and low-budget science fiction movies. A horror film was playing but she quickly turned the channel.

_I think I've had enough horror for one lifetime, _she shuddered.

It was hardly any surprise when she found herself back on that music channel. There was another video playing, one starring a very...unusually dressed woman. With skin as pale as the moon itself, startlingly-wide eyes and short, candy-pink hair. Her outfit was something to behold, for it looked more like a confection than a garment, as did the setting of her video. There were peppermints and gumdrops all around, mixed with an unhealthy dose of innuendo. Another video played, this one featuring another woman with light brown skin and fiery red hair. The video was just as odd as the first, taking place in a grocery store of sorts, much like the one she and Luigi went to. Her outfit was more revealing than the last girl's, and her striped suspender shorts and cut-off shirt underneath didn't even match. Daisy could barely comprehend the way these young women presented themselves because, from what she'd seen around Brooklyn, not everyone dressed like that.

_Maybe these people are of a different class than everyone else,_ she mused.

Whatever class they were apart of, it must've allowed for their individuality to bloom. She didn't agree with all the singers' styles, but she could say she hadn't seen anything like it ever before. She also hadn't heard of any instrument that would make such strange noises, either. And though not all of the videos featured dancers, the ones that did never failed to make her color violently. She was embarrassed _for _some of the women. Not only was everything out and showing, but they made a point of making sure their, ah, assets garnered as much attention as possible.

_Definitely something I probably shouldn't be watching, _she smiled to herself, _I wonder what Luigi would say if he saw me watching this. _

Daisy laughed at the thought.

This was perhaps her favorite among all of the channels, and her favorite songs were the ones that had that thumping bass. It was impossible to listen and appreciate the words without hearing some things that made her cringe though. That was the only thing she didn't like about those songs; the lyrics were most often poor, or all-out disrespectful and derogatory. She knew she could only get a handful of the references while the others were going over her head, but she understood enough to know that this wasn't the best type of music.

_If I could just get the music, without all the words, _she frowned.

She left it on that channel anyway, though, knowing it was bad to watch but unable to resist staring at the dancers and their bodies, unable to turn down that exotic bass. She vowed not to tell or let on to anyone that she was into this, really into it, deeming this to be her very first dirty secret.

* * *

They were both worried; she for his health and he for her safety. Neither were really justified, considering all that they'd been through, but their concern was only natural between two soon-to-be married people. Peach saw the man she loved as just that; a man, not a marvel. He wasn't superhuman although he was sometimes treated that way. He had a heart that bled just like everyone else, and she really thought he ought not push himself so much. He had only healed from his serious injuries a little while ago, she didn't think he should already be straining his body by coming on this trip so soon. But he could hardly be dissuaded; if she was going then he definitely was, too. He didn't want to ever lose her again. Neither of them could see, for all their worrying, how the other had grown since their ordeal. Mario, already strong and brave, had grown a lot mentally and knew his limits, one of the true signs of a great warrior. His fiancee, Peach, had also become resilient and fearless in most respects. She refused to take a backseat when it came to the goings on in her kingdom anymore. She also wore pants more often, much to his appreciation.

She was wearing a pair now, some light-colored jeans. She was fond of those. She also had on a white blouse and a silk pink cloak with white boots. She was no less beautiful, but she was a bit less dainty and fragile. She rode her white horse just as skillfully as Mario did his next to her. Soon they arrived at their destination: the palace near the Black Forest, home to the former Dark King. They rode right up to the front doors and waited for someone to let them in.

"A messenger," Mario noticed far off.

When the Koopa reached them, the couple tensed, having recalled their caustic dealings with the creatures in the past. If the Koopa noticed how he was received, he made no outward sign of it.

"His highness would have me inform you that your meeting has been postponed." The creature stated.

"Postponed?" Mario echoed. "What for?"

"His Majesty would have you return at this time tomorrow." The Koopa spoke, as if he hadn't heard the plumber's question.

Mario was mildly irritated. "This is real last-minute, don't ya' think?"

He was put out until he noticed the doors to the palace were cracked, open just enough for him to catch a blur of blue hair from beyond them. He heard a crash, like glass breaking, and then a loud, frustrated sigh and then heard Ludwig's voice; he was cussing someone out by the sound of it.

_On second thought, _Mario thought, _I'd better not press it. What's another day? _

"Did you hear me, Mario?" Peach was asking him.

The Koopa was gone, having left while the prince of the Mushroom Kingdom was preoccupied. Mario turned to his fiancee and smiled gently.

"What was that?" He chuckled.

She shook her tilted head with a faint smile and said, "I asked if you wanted to stay at an inn for the rest of the day?"

"Yeah, sounds good." He nodded.

Neither one of them mounted their horses, choosing instead to walk to the city beyond the palace instead. While they walked, Peach shed her heavy cloak and tied up her thick blonde hair in lieu of the warm weather, tying her locks in a loose knot at the top of her head. Mario took off his black cape and stretched his arms. He'd already dressed coolly in light pants and a cotton shirt.

"To say we're making peace with the Badlands," Mario quipped, "That boy doesn't seem too peaceful."

"He's probably just stressed," Peach reasoned, "He's not even twenty, I've heard, quite young to be king. He has a lot on his plate."

Mario snorted and said, "It's his own fault. No one told the kid to take over the Badlands."

"I think it's a noble ambition," Peach argued whimsically, "He's good for wanting to make something of that doomed land."

"If you say so," Mario shrugged.

The two reached an inn, one that looked moderately expensive, and saw that its shutters were all drawn. There was no one attending it, so the royals assumed it to be closed.

"Or maybe the owner's off-duty," Mario thought. He said, "I'll go and check around for someone to help us. Stay here in case someone comes while I'm gone."

"Alright." Peach said, taking a seat on one of the benches along the side of the inn.

She kept her eyes on Mario until he was lost to the crowd, then faced forward again. She didn't see the flags, the ones that were so prevalent before, the ones with _his _insignia. She pursed her lips.

_Bowser, _she thought, _I'm not afraid to say his name. He doesn't deserve to be feared, he's gone now. It's not as if he can hurt me or anyone else anymore. _

"Hey beautiful," someone greeted.

Before Peach could look up, someone was kissing her cheek gently and it wasn't Mario. Glancing at the culprit, she saw a slight young man with dark hair and soft features.

"Excuse me?" She cocked a brow.

Upon realizing his mistake, the boy blushed and blinked, looking embarrassed.

"Oh, uh, sorry," He stammered, "I thought you were someone else."

Peach smiled empathetically and said, "It's alright. Who are you?"

He held out his hand and said, "Munson Chauvin, and you are?"

"Peach Toadstool, Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom." She reluctantly revealed.

"Royalty," He murmured, impressed, "You've come a long way."

"Indeed," She nodded, "And I'd like lodging, so if you'd point me in the direction of an available inn, I'd be much obliged young man."

He told her, "My father owns this one right here."

"Is it open now?" She inquired.

He nodded and was about to speak further when Mario returned. He took one look at Munson and smiled politely.

"Hey," He greeted, then asked Peach, "Did anyone come for the inn? I've had no luck."

"My father owns this inn," Munson told him, "You're Mario, right?"

"I am," Mario stated warily, "How'd you know?"

"My father's a fan." He shrugged, "Come on in. You can stay the night, it's on the house."

"Are you sure?" Mario spoke.

Munson nodded and said, "Like I told you, my father's a fan of you. He won't mind."

* * *

Many a time I resisted the urge to call the apartment and make sure Daisy was alright. I left my cell phone with her, showed her how to use it and answer and told her my work number. I told her to call me if she needed anything, or if she just wanted to talk to me. I wish she would have called sometime while I was at work, maybe then it wouldn't have been such a long shift. At any rate, I didn't call her and she didn't call me, so I had to wile away the hours assuming she was okay. Now I was off of work and headed home, at last. I was tired and only drove with my fingers back home. I'd never realized work was this taxing.

_It probably only seems that way now because I have someone I want to get home to, _I reasoned.

When I did pull into the parking space near my apartment, I yawned. Mechanically I got out and locked my car and headed up the flights of stairs and got to my door. It was locked, that was good. I got into my flat and locked the door behind me, noting the place was pitch black.

"Daisy?" I called out.

I hung my keys on the wall near the door and headed to the kitchen, then flipped the switch on. I saw her then, lying on her side on the floor in front of the tv. As much as I told her not to stay up for me, I thought she'd take the hint that my hours were late. It seemed the girl was determined to stay up though. Or try to. The remote was in her hand and her hair was splayed around her head. Her shirt, er, my shirt that she liked to wear was hiked up her stomach a bit. I crossed the room and took the remote from her. I paused.

"What?" I frowned.

Of all the things on tv, I hardly figured she'd be into Paula Dean. But then, Daisy was an excellent cook, so it kinda' made sense. I tried to turn the tv off but turned the channel instead, and some rap music video was playing. I didn't really mind rap, but I wasn't a music person so it was kind of all the same to me. Besides, the rap and RnB songs reminded me of that awful club that Terry used to love lounging around on Fridays. I made a face and shut the tv off.

I put the remote on the coffee table and reached down to pick Daisy up. She woke up almost immediately.

"Luigi?" she blinked. "When did you get back?"

"Just now," I told her. "You should've gone to bed."

She smiled and I wanted to kiss her but she was speaking, saying, "I wanted to wait 'til you came back."

"It's alright." I shrugged, "But next time go to sleep. You have a day job, remember? You'll need to get your rest."

"Right," She yawned.

She held onto me with her arms around my neck as I carried her to the bed. I got my stuff out the closet and went to take a shower. By the time I got out she was asleep again.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. I don't feel well right now. It's just been one of those days. I can really sympathize with Ludwig right now because my head is making me want to pop my head like a pinata. **

**Anyway.**

**Please review and tell me what you think so far. If you think the story is dragging; it kinda is, but I'm a person who doesn't like to rush things so bear with me please ^^; **

**I will respond to any questions you have so don't hesitate to ask; unless it's going to spoil the plot, of course. Then you'll have to just wait. **

**Until next time!**

**~DymondGold~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Surprise! A very quick update just for you :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to the Mushroom Kingdom. Lol, technically it belongs to Nintendo but...we all know they have time shares in the Mushroom Kingdom so yeah :)**

* * *

**Chapter Seven **

* * *

"So how was it?"

That bright smile was answer enough for me. This afternoon signaled the end of Daisy's first day of work and by the way she was beaming I could tell it had been a good experience for her. I was glad: it was one less thing for me to worry about. I saw Daisy leaving her job in her ironed uniform and had to smile. The girl was so beautiful that it was like falling in love with a different part of her every single day. She made that plain black dress and forest green polo shirt look like runway material the way it fit her so nicely. But then I noticed I wasn't the only one staring at her as she crossed the street with me to get to my car on the other side. All of a sudden her dress seemed a little too short. It was cut above the knee and even though she wore black stockings underneath, I didn't like the way these dudes down the street were ogling her.

_Get over it, _I groused to myself, _she's beautiful, you said it yourself; guys are gonna' stare at her. As long as they don't touch her or say anything to her, there's no use getting upset about it. _

"I guess it went well then," I spoke once we were both inside my car.

Daisy buckled up and grinned. "Yes, it went really well. My co-workers were friendly, and Mr. Lestrange was helpful: he showed me the whole store. I don't think I've ever seen so many pairs of shoes in one place!"

"That's nothing compared to some of the other stores around here," I told her.

She arched a brow and said, "Whoa. That's really strange. Back home, er, in the Mushroom Kingdom, the cobblers always had the material on hand to make or repair shoes, but never just tons of them lying around. What if no one buys all of them?"

"Trust me," I said wryly, "They'll get bought."

"People must have lots of money around here." She surmised.

"Not necessarily," I explained, "Some people use credit cards, so even though they might be broke or have a tiny budget, they can still get buy things on credit."

"Ah," Daisy hummed. "So if you had one of these cards, you could buy whatever you want then, huh?"

"Not really." I told her, "That's how people get into debt. They spend more than they can pay back and end up owing these credit companies thousands of dollars. With interest."

"Oh," Daisy frowned. "That's awful. I don't think I'd ever want one of those cards then. They seem like more trouble than they're worth."

"They're okay, as long as you know how to moderate your spending habits," I shrugged.

Turning the corner, I then asked, "So what'd you do today?"

"I stayed at the front of the store," Daisy replied, "I handled all the monetary exchanges."

"So you're a cashier," I noted, "Sounds cool."

"Cashier," Daisy repeated, "That was the word Mr. Lestrange called it. Luigi, do you know when I get paid?"

"Lestrange didn't tell you?" I asked.

Daisy colored and admitted, "He did, but I forgot. Do you know when workers are paid here?"

"Well it's not the same for all workers," I said, "Each individual company owner decides when to pay their employees."

"Oh," Daisy responded. "I see."

I smiled at the girl. It would've irked my nerves, having to explain every little detail of life here in Brooklyn to anyone else, but for her it was a sort of endearing experience. I passed up the turn that would've led to my apartment and Daisy, ever astute, made note of this.

"I'm glad you had a good day," I told her in answer, "I was thinking we could eat out to celebrate."

"Don't you have to go to work?" She asked.

I said, "In a little bit. But we've got time."

_And if I'm late, who gives a care. It's not like I'm trying for 'employee of the month' or anything. _

I wasn't looking at Daisy and wasn't thinking of her in that moment, so when she leaned over and kissed my cheek, I nearly ran a light. Daisy jerked in her seat when I threw on the brakes.

"Sorry about that," I apologized.

She laughed and said, "That's alright. I just wanted to thank you, Luigi."

"For what?"

"For letting me be a part of your life, and introducing me to your world." She said softly.

I was taken aback. My life, this 'world' of mine, it was only good because she was in it. Didn't she see that? Didn't she see how selfish I was? I'd taken her here not as a favor to her, but because I didn't ever want to be without her.

* * *

His skin was pale, almost sallow. Red-rimmed were his irises. His eyes were swollen, puffy. Little cuts littered his arms and clavicle and throat, traces of incidents where he'd slept fitfully and scratched at himself. There was a scar beside his eyebrow and he had no clue how it'd got there. His strength was waning. He couldn't use any advanced magic for how heavily it taxed his stomach and back; he felt as if he were about to heave violently when he'd tried to assuage his head.

He didn't even want to think about his head.

He knew his body, his health overall, was deteriorating, he could see it this morning in the mirror. His hair wasn't too well off, either, as it hung limply in dirty tangles against his cheeks and shoulders.

_I look like shit, _he thought bluntly.

By now there was no question. He knew his ailment was due in large part to his absorbing the former king's dark energy. He was frustrated to admit this, to admit that he couldn't control his own powers anymore, much less the ones foreign to his body. His abilities had grown less and less accessible over the course of time, to where now he had to just suffer with his pains and aches instead of will them away.

"This doesn't make any sense," He growled to himself, "I did everything _right_."

He had to grip the edges of the vanity surface-top to keep himself from swaying on his feet. As he grimaced down at his ash-white knuckles, he furrowed his brow in consternation. For weeks he'd exercised his internal body so that it'd be prepared to sustain the presence of that gross amount of dark energy, but it seemed now that it had all been for naught. If there was one thing Ludwig hated, it was wasting time.

"This shouldn't be happening," He scowled. "I should be able to control this!"

"Who are you talking to?"

Ludwig whipped his head over to his door and saw his brother, Morton Junior.

"Don't you ever knock?" Ludwig hissed.

"You look like-"

"Get out!"

His voice was hoarse because his throat was red and raw. That dark energy was tearing his body apart from the inside out. He shoved the heels of his palms into his shut eyes but that didn't give him any sort of relief anymore. Very quickly Ludwig grew furious. He was so frustrated that he began to defy his body's pleas and channel his magic through his mind. His stomach twisted itself in knots, sweat pooled to his palms and soles, but he persisted. His vectors, spindly and weak instead of thick and powerful, retracted back into the recesses of his core in surrender.

_No! _Ludwig gritted his teeth, _You bastard! I **will **control you! I **have** to! _

His body betrayed him soon after his failed attempts in that his mind completely blanked out. For a second his vision went and a shot of panic soared through him. He was acutely aware that he was slick with sweat all over now, and that he was trembling badly. He almost tripped over nothing but he grabbed the vanity once more and panted. Each inhalation was like taking in tiny shards of glass against his already raw throat.

"Majesty?"

_Now, of all times, someone would find me in such a fucking state,_ he thought darkly.

His vision returned, as if on cue, but there were glaring blind spots in his eyes that wouldn't go away. His mouth was a cesspool of bile and hot saliva and his legs felt too weak to take more than five steps, but he willed himself to stride to the door, ever so slowly, and approach his guard. The Koopas never expressed emotion, so he couldn't tell how he was being received by his subordinate.

"What is it?" He asked thickly.

He couldn't get his emerald eyes to focus so there were two, at times three, Koopas when there should've been one.

"You have company." the guard stated.

Ludwig's frown deepened. He didn't know how that could be since he'd already met with Mario and Peach earlier in the day. He'd barely gotten through that meeting without puking or fainting but that wouldn't be the case if he pushed himself any more. He needed to get this person out as soon as possible before his weakness made the Badlands news.

With a strained expression, Ludwig made his way from his bedroom in the guest wing to the throne room. He figured, as protocol dictated, that the guest or guests were already there because there was no one at the front doors. But as he approached his throne, he didn't see anyone but his guards. Ludwig took a seat rigidly on his throne and addressed the Koopas.

"Where are they?" He frowned, "Whoever's here bring them in so I can kick them out already."

"Yes, Majesty." The Koopas bowed.

And when they brought in the guest, Ludwig's scowling face went completely blank. His emerald eyes, shaded on one side by his tangled hair, narrowed slightly as his body stiffened even more.

"Well, well," The newcomer grinned, "Long time no see, my boy!"

"Why have you come here?" Ludwig ground out.

"Why, your precious siblings implored me to join them in their return here." the immortal answered.

"Oh?" Ludwig spoke.

_One of these days I really will beat the shit out of those meddlesome brats, _he thought grimly, _they really can be quite annoying when they put their minds to it._

"They said you were not well. And that I can clearly see." King Boo continued. "Tell me, what ails you, Ludwig?"

"It is of no concern to you," Ludwig spoke tightly. "And if that's the reason you came here, you ought to leave now."

"Nonsense!" King Boo grinned, "I came to help and help I shall!"

There were times, like now, where Ludwig got so frustrated and fed up and angry that he would stop speaking altogether and just level the object of his aggravation with one of his coldest glares. King Boo could see that his former protege was in such a volatile mood and his grin faltered, then died altogether.

In a solemn voice he said, "What is troubling you, Ludwig?"

Ludwig was silent still, contemplating whether or not he would tell the king of his dilemma. It was bad enough he was realizing the crippling effects of his decision to usurp power he couldn't quite control. To have King Boo know of his piteous state; well, he almost figured he'd rather suffer in silence than have that.

"Come now," King Boo coaxed softly, "Have I not been like a father to you, Ludwig? You can tell me."

Ludwig tensed.

"A father?" He spoke in a soft, accusatory tone, "How very presumptuous."

"I nearly reared you since you were a child, didn't I?" King Boo retorted, "That counts for something."

King Boo's violet eyes had steeled. He pushed his long black hair over one shoulder and let a mad grin play on his mouth. Meanwhile Ludwig grew silent once more, almost guiltily so, were he capable of the feeling at the moment.

In a quiet voice, King Boo told him, "Don't forget what I did for you, Ludwig. You wouldn't be here now if I hadn't taken you in, shown you the ways of magic and gave you your start in the dark arts."

Ludwig was yet silent. King Boo was ill at ease with his unmoving silence.

_He's always been that way_, King Boo knew, _even from a very young age. _

Ludwig's eyes were unreadable, his whole stony face was. King Boo wondered then, like he always did, what the young man was thinking. It was an impossible query. Ludwig sat there, staring at the violet-eyed immortal, until he finally spoke.

"Well then, _father," _Ludwig spoke mockingly, "If you want to help me, end this curse."

"Finite incantatum?" King Boo recited with a questioning lilt.

"_Don't you think I've tried that already_?" Ludwig hissed testily.

"Calm down!" King Boo chuckled, "You always were so high strung. It was just a joke."

"Does it look." Ludwig gritted out, "Like I have time to be joking right now?"

King Boo's good-natured grin suddenly washed away like paint on the sidewalk from a good rain. He observed Ludwig very closely, squinting his eyes until they were purple slants under his black brows. When they widened again, his expression was grave.

"My God, it's killing you, isn't it?" He whispered, enlightened.

Ludwig was silent.

"Don't tell me you've gone and done it, Ludwig." King Boo frowned, not wanting to believe what was unfolding in front of him.

Ludwig still didn't speak.

"You're full of dark energy," King Boo remarked, "I can feel it. You've gone and done it, haven't you?"

Ludwig didn't say a word.

"Didn't I warn you about this?" King Boo said, raising his voice, "Didn't I tell you the power would consume you?!"

"No it won't!" Ludwig snapped. "I _will _control it!"

King Boo barked out a mirthless laugh, saying, "You will control it? Boy, it's killing you!"

"You think this is funny?" Ludwig asked, rising with his fists clenched at his sides.

King Boo smirked and said, "Your anger is misdirected; I told you not to do this."

Ludwig glowered at him, his body and its sickness inhibiting him from doing any more than that. He desperately needed to sit back down but his pride kept him on his feet.

With a heavy sigh, King Boo said, "Since you have though, you have two options. The first would be to yield to the energy."

"What?" Ludwig frowned.

"Part of _him_, his innate essence, is the driving force behind that energy," King Boo spoke, "you knew him intimately, you know that he is not one to yield to others. So instead of trying to force him to bend to your will, yield to _him_. Let his energy expand within you."

"...What?" Ludwig asked, his expression both furious and dumbfounded.

"From your sorry state, I'd have to assume you've been trying to constrict his energy and its effects," King Boo surmised, "That only causes it to lash out at you. Just yield to it, stop fighting it."

"Yield?" Ludwig echoed. "It can't be that simple."

"But it is," King Boo assured him, "Just do it. The agonizing pain leave you and his energy will be much more compliant and available for your use. Don't look at me like that, I'm not trying to deceive you; I always did want to see you succeed all your life.

"Your potential, your ambition enthralls me. I warned you against this but now that you've gone and done it, I'd like to see what you'll become." The king explained honestly.

Ludwig swallowed difficultly and whispered to himself, "Yield to it."

"Yield, but don't let it consume you," King Boo advised. "Give it just enough leeway to settle inside you, not get comfortable and take over."

"What do you want?" Ludwig suddenly clipped.

King Boo was hardly taken aback. He knew his former enforcer well, after all. He gazed at the young man with hooded eyes and folded his arms.

He spoke through a broad smile but stated sadly, "Remember me."

"That's it?" Ludwig asked with scathing skepticism.

"Remember what I have done for you," King Boo implored of him, "Remember that I care about you."

"How much can you care when you don't even have a soul?" came Ludwig's soft, cutting remark.

King Boo flinched in the eyes and in the heart, saying before he vanished, "You'd be surprised."

* * *

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"I got my first check!"

"That's great."

"Um. Luigi?"

"Yeah?"

"What do I do with it?"

I chuckled a bit and made Daisy smile sheepishly. She was just getting off work and I was picking her up before I had to head to my own job. She'd been working for a month and a half and had just gotten paid. I guess I'd better tell her about the way money worked here.

"You have to get the money off of that," I said, "because right now it's just a piece of paper."

"Oh," She nodded, then asked, "How do I do that?"

"We could stop by the corner store and cash it," I said, "Or you could open an account at the bank and put it into savings."

The girl cocked a brow.

"The bank or savings?" I asked.

"Both." She replied.

I explained, "The bank is a place where people hold their money for later. A savings account is your individual um, well it's something banks require so that they can tell whose money is whose."

"Ah, I think I understand," She said, "People really do have a lot of money here."

"Not as much as you'd think," I told her.

"I think I wanna' open an account a the bank." She stated.

So we got in my car and headed there.

"How was your first month?" I asked her while driving.

She shrugged, her excitement somewhat dampened from her first day.

"I think I'm starting to get used to it now," She admitted.

"That happens," I said to her. "You sure you're alright with me being gone all night during the week?"

"Yeah," She said, then with a private smirk told me, "I watch a lot of television."

I wondered about that pretty smirk.

We got to the bank and I showed her to the front where a teller took over from there. The woman showed Daisy all about opening a savings account, and a checking account as well, getting a debit card, and using online services to monitor her account. I hardly thought that was necessary since I didn't have a computer and my phone had no internet capabilities, but I just stood off to the side and let the lady do her job. When the teller cashed her check and was counting out the money for her, asking Daisy if she wanted any now, the girl glanced back at me, looking torn.

"You don't have to put all of it in savings," I told her. "Put some of it in your checking account and then you can use your debit card to buy things."

Daisy looked hesitant. "But you said that those cards can lead to immense debt."

"No, no," I said, "Those were the credit cards. With the debit card, you can only spend what you put on it."

The bank teller with the stern bun at the top of her head smiled, validating my words.

"Oh, okay." She nodded.

Daisy ended up putting 200 dollars on her card, and leaving the remaining 300 dollars in her savings account. I couldn't believe she'd made that much working only fifteen hours a week, but then again, Lestrange's place payed well. Much more than I could say for my job. But I wasn't jealous. This meant I didn't have to work weekends anymore just to keep the lights on. It also meant I got to spend more time with Daisy, and that was always nice.

* * *

**A/N: So I hoped you enjoyed that. Yes, more things arise to thicken the plot; as it turns out, KB is closer to Ludwig than anyone thought and yes he did know that Ludwig was plotting to take Bowser's power for himself a _verrry_ long time ago: Ludwig was a dark kid, what can I say. **

**Oh, and if you haven't noticed by now, the boy has daddy issues. I tried hinting at that with his relationship with Bowser but I think I failed, ha. **

**Things are going to be shaking up soon so stay tuned! Until next time my readers! **

**~DymondGold~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Another short chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to the Mushroom Kingdom. Lol, technically it belongs to Nintendo but...we all know they have time shares in the Mushroom Kingdom so yeah :)**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

Nothing happened.

Not at first. That crippling agony still wrought havoc within him as if he hadn't yielded at all. But he had. He'd stopped fighting the entity within his head and had immediately felt it begin to swell and expand. Panicked, he'd mentally flinched with his magic vectors but called them off at once. He was at a veritable dead-end and had to at least try this method; the dark energy was indeed killing him. So he'd relaxed himself all over and had laid in bed, letting the energy do as it wished. The relief came swiftly as it swirled in the back of his head, then spread out to the rest of his body. Ludwig again panicked, remembering not to let that energy get too comfortable within him. He sent out his vectors and they sought out the dark energy but by then it was everywhere; from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. Ludwig remembered jerking upright in bed, thinking he'd been had by the immortal King Boo and that's when his agony had returned. Ludwig had tried to undo his actions but the dark energy had been given an inch and had taken an allegorical mile: it was there to stay. He couldn't coax it back into the prison in the back of his head if he tried. And he had, to no avail. Weeks passed, and all the while a peculiar phenomena unfolded.

He got better.

His headaches were the first to go, and then his eyes got better. Sharp and clear and free of those angry red veins they were. His pallor wasn't so pale and his strength and appetite returned. He not only regained his ability to wield his magic, but he also felt the dark energy coursing through him, pumping straight from his heart it seemed, ready for him to use it. He'd tested it out and was quite pleased to find that the menacing flames that had so eagerly spurred from his adversary's hands now obeyed him as well. There was power, so much power, inside him and he couldn't wait to tame it. But he'd have to. Practice was a must, so he took up the habit of training his younger brothers himself, at the same time getting accustomed to his new abilities.

Like the pain, his temper waned as well. He was naturally patient when he needed to be, calculating and level-headed. His recent illness had nearly changed that, made him rash and impetuous. He couldn't allow himself to be that way, he knew he'd never get any work done, he'd never accomplish certain 'goals' he had in mind if he wasn't at his best, physically and mentally.

* * *

I almost forgot what the mall was like. I stopped going a _long _time ago. I never had the money to buy anything, nor did I have the desire to just walk around window shopping or hunting for a date while pretending not to be interested or whatever that thing is some guys do. Coming to this place just never really was my idea of a good time, but apparently Daisy was liking it so far. We hadn't even got into the entrance before her face lit up. I didn't see what was so great about it. Just a bunch of people who have nothing better to be doing on a Saturday afternoon milling about, buying things they really didn't need. That was one of the reasons I was glad to be broke at times; it really made me separate the things I truly wanted from the things I would have bought on impulse, had I had the money.

"So many vendors," Daisy remarked.

"Stores," I told her gently, "And yeah. There's a lot of 'em."

"It's like a giant marketplace," She grinned.

Personally, I knew having all these places in one area was just some ploy to get folks to spend more money. I didn't figure Daisy was the type to blow her money, but from the way she was gazing excitedly at nearly every store we passed once inside, I had some doubts. I showed her the top floor first, since she insisted, and we'd not been able to pass one open door or kiosk without her stopping to investigate. I didn't really mind.

"Ooh, look!" Daisy spoke in a hushed voice.

She was pulling me by the arm into another store, this one sold phones. Oh, this was actually good. I'd been meaning to get her one soon.

"What are these?" She asked, stepping over to one of the display phones.

"That's a cell phone," I told her, "It's like a two-way communication device. You can use it to talk to other people from anywhere else in the world."

And that was the simplified version of it. I hadn't realized until now how complicated phones were, especially cell phones. I'd be here all day trying to tell her the ins and outs of touch screens and blackberries and the like. I didn't even know all there was to know about some of these newer models.

"How can you do that?" Daisy wanted to know.

I paused. "It um, there's these things called telephone wires and they um, transmit signals over to the different satellites in space and..."

Daisy had lifted a brow when I mentioned the wires, so I knew she was lost when I started talking about space. Like I said, I didn't know how complicated this all sounded until I had to explain it to her. She smiled weakly and shook her head.

"You'll have to tell me all about these sometime." She said.

I guess that was it for this store because she was already walking out. Her next few stops were the shoe store, the hat store, and surprisingly, a baby store. She was in the middle of rubbing her fingers over a little yellow onesie when she suddenly turned to me, her expression grave.

"Luigi." She spoke.

"Yeah?" I replied hesitantly.

Daisy stood with the garment in her hands, her eyes narrowed solemnly.

"Would you rather have a son or a daughter?" She asked abruptly.

I didn't respond at first, I hadn't expected that of her. I thought about her question in the silent moment that followed, trying not to think of what it would take to have a child in the first place though my mind was going places it didn't need to at the minute.

"I uh, I guess it doesn't matter." I told her.

Daisy's face fell a bit. "Doesn't matter?" she echoed softly.

"What I mean is," I stated quickly, "What I mean is that I'll love any child you give me either way, whether it's a boy or a girl or healthy or sick-not to say that it'll be sick, but even if it were, I'd still love it. Him. Her. The child."

Daisy's smile was slow, but bright in the end. She dropped the baby outfit on the display table and tucked herself under my arm.

"Luigi, you're so good." She smiled. "You'd make a really good father."

All this talk of kids was starting to make me feel weird. I wasn't young, but twenty-six wasn't that old either. I mean, I wanted a child eventually, just not any time soon. I wasn't ready. It was enough for me to have just one more person in my life.

"Don't you think it's kinda' early to um, talk about children?" I asked Daisy, looking down at her.

She nodded at once, saying, "Yeah. We're not even married yet. But this place just had everything you could think of for babies and it just. Overwhelmed me, I guess."

"Ah." I hummed.

From there we headed to several more places. The only things Daisy actually bought were some spray and lotion and lip stuff from that store that smelled like a perfume bag. It was called 'bed and something works' or the other. I knew I'd walked past it before, but to this day I hadn't been in there. Daisy rectified that matter today by spending almost 45 minutes in there. I was beyond bored, but seeing the girl so happy kept me from saying anything to spoil her fun. I held her bags for her as she visited each and every store, then paused with her outside of one.

That lingerie place.

She peered through the open doorways. She chewed the edge of her lip indecisively. She blushed and smiled a nervous, twitchy smile, but she didn't go inside.

_Thank God _

I would've gone in with her, that wasn't the problem. I just knew my mind would have been wandering like kid in a corn field once I saw what was inside. The clothes didn't bother me, it was the thought of Daisy in those clothes that got to me.

Daisy bought some more things; a nice blouse, a pair of black jeans, a t-shirt, a jean jacket, some tennis shoes, and a pair of pretty sandals. That happened over the course of the next hour and a half. She now felt the hunger that had been plaguing me several stores back and looked around for something to eat.

"I smell the food everywhere," She observed, "but I can't see it; where is it?"

"Food court's downstairs," I informed her. "See, look."

I guided her with my hands full of her purchases over to the balcony that overlooked the pretzel and lemonade stands. She gazed down at it longingly, then reached into her pocket for her wallet.

"Save your money, I got it." I told her.

"Thanks," She smiled, adding regretfully, "I'm pretty sure I'm almost out of money."

"I'm not surprised."

* * *

Over the course of his life, Peasley had learned, like most people, to trust his instincts over whatever logic the situation would have him believe. The situation seemed so right. His country was basking in its new era of relative calm and so were many others. The Dark King was no more, there was no more war and, up until now, Bean Kingdom had no enemies banging at her gates. His current guest, ruler over many regions, was there to make peace and although his voice was soft and his words promising, Peasley had a hard time shaking off that foreboding chill that was climbing up his spine with each passing moment that he spent in the company of the young king.

_There's something off about him, _Peasley observed.

As the blonde regarded the new King of the Badlands, he had to tilt his head, for he'd not yet seen the famed young sorcerer in person. He'd heard tales of him from Luigi and others around, but it wasn't until now, with Ludwig at his palace door, that he saw the magician for himself.

_He's...a tad ominous for one so young, _The Bean Kingdom royal noted.

"Are we to conduct this meeting in the doorway, then?" Ludwig spoke in that same soft voice.

Peasley, never one for rudeness, stepped aside. He'd stopped the ex-enforcer at the door and had questioned him on his intentions immediately; he'd not let another into his home who harbored ill-will towards him or his kingdom again. But his civility only went so far before it was impeded by his suspicion and thus he didn't bother apologizing for his delay in showing him inside. Without a word, Peasley led his guest to his father's study and took a seat in the fine leather chair that was still a bit too tall for him. He let his hands fall on either side of his torso and then gazed at his guest again.

"Have a seat. Please." He forced himself to add in an uncharacteristically cold voice.

If Ludwig noticed this, he didn't let on as he sat down across from Peasley. He made the plain wooden chair appear as a throne as he sat with his back straight and his chin slightly raised.

_He acts like he was born with gold in his blood, _Peasley thought, bemused.

"So you were saying?" He prompted.

While a coolly-spoken string of words in explanation poured from Ludwig's mouth, Peasley continued to analyze the youth in hopes of pinpointing the source of his unease. Perhaps it was the way he spoke in that same, low tone, with no inflection or emphasis. Or it could've been his eyes; they had gold flecks in them, like the former beast of a king of the land Ludwig now ruled. It would be a subconscious prejudice, but the mind did work ever strangely.

_He's unlike anyone I've ever met, that's for sure, _Peasley deduced.

"Well?" came the slightly agitated shift in tone.

Peasley's lime eyes re-focused onto Ludwig's emerald ones. He raised a slim brow in question and saw Ludwig's eye twitch for a moment; if there was one thing the young ruler detested, it was being ignored. Or tuned out; it was all the same thing in his book. He hated to repeat himself, but with his regained self-control, he quelled his irritation.

"The document that would bind us in agreement is right here," He said again, "all you need to do is sign it."

"Bind us?" Peasley drawled somewhat lazily.

His mind was still vigilantly seeking the root of his seemingly unfounded skepticism of this young man. To Ludwig, though, he seemed as if he weren't even trying to pay attention. He seemed to be disregarding both his presence and intentions. Ludwig felt the makings of indignant offense build within him, but stuffed them down and kept his face blank. In his usual fashion, he addressed this at once so as not to waste time dealing with an unwilling royal.

"You don't trust me." He spoke evenly.

Peasley said almost conversationally, "I certainly have every reason not to."

Ludwig lifted a brow, in want of an explanation. Peasley, who was becoming less anxious and more curious towards the ex-enforcer, decided to elucidate.

"For one, I have no idea who you are," Peasley spoke, "I mean who you _really _are."

Ludwig slated his already-clear features even more.

"I've heard that you were the slain Dark King's protege," Peasley continued, "or at the very least a close affiliate of his. And yet you had a major hand in his rather untimely but highly celebrated demise."

Peasley was choosing his words carefully, trying to gauge the ex-enforcer's reaction. There wasn't any from Ludwig's end. He remained neutral in the face and demeanor. Peasley thought he might see a bit of emotion, were the youth actually attached and loyal to the Dark King in some way. But he saw nothing, no hint of a grin or grimace or anything.

_How disappointing, _Peasley frowned.

"What else have you heard?" Ludwig asked quietly.

The blonde royal said, "It doesn't matter, not really. The fact of the matter is, it's all meaningless to me. I won't believe a word of any other either for or against your character from anyone else's mouth, no matter how reputable the source."

Ludwig's mouth twitched, downward maybe? Peasley couldn't make out the action since it happened so fast.

"You're allied with the Mushroom Kingdom," Ludwig said in a voice he couldn't quite thaw all the ice out of, "Did you scrutinize _his_ character so stringently as well?"

Peasley smiled a bit, wryly and despite himself. He could tell that Ludwig was a little bitter and that somewhat amused him but he ultimately wanted to know why; did that bitterness extend towards the plumber, Mushroom Kingdom's ruler? Or just the idea that the plumber's character was accepted when Ludwig's was not? Peasley couldn't be sure but he wanted to know. This ruler both intrigued and unnerved him.

In answer to Ludwig's question, Peasley admitted, "No. But that alliance was formed when my parents were alive. Had I been in the position to form one with him now, I'd seek after him and his character just as avidly as I do yours now."

"What a suspicious creature you are," Ludwig remarked.

"You could say that I am," Peasley shrugged, "but certain events have made me that way."

"Fascinating." Ludwig deadpanned.

"I won't be signing that paper of yours." Peasley then told him.

Ludwig didn't show any outward sign of disappointment or anger, but inside he was getting more and more ticked off.

"I'll have to remain neutral," Peasley stated, "For the sake of my kingdom."

"...I see." Ludwig spoke in a low voice.

"That's not to say there won't be an alliance in the future, should you prove to be someone worth allying with," Peasley remarked with deliberate arrogance.

He didn't get a rise out of Ludwig as he'd hoped, but that was only because Ludwig was already aware of what Peasley was doing and he didn't want to play into his hands by revealing anything to him. He figured this meeting was a very informative one, though it didn't quite play out the way he would've liked it to. He planned on making as many allies as possible, but knew he'd probably have to write off Bean Kingdom, at least for the moment. This visit did, however, tell him a good bit about Peasley.

_The rest I'll have to research later,_ Ludwig thought to himself.

"I'll have a servant show you to the door," Peasley offered, since he wasn't keen on doing it himself.

"Don't bother," Ludwig told him, then vanished from sight.

_Peculiar, that one, _Peasley remarked in his head.

* * *

**A/N: This is the last chapter before the important time skip, since there was a skip with Daisy being at work for a month and all. Let me know what you guys think so far!**

**Why do you think making allies is so important to Ludwig? **

**What do you think about Wendy and Munson? **

**Who do you think is gonna' die first? **

**lol at the last one. Nobody dies, er, at least I don't think so. Right now it isn't in the plot but you never know, heh. **

**Well I'll see you guys next chapter! Until then, **

**~DymondGold~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for reviewing and faving and most of all, reading this story! It means a lot to a fledgling author like me :) **

**Enjoy!**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Mario or its franchise; it belongs to Nintendo and their affiliates. I just am really grateful to its creators for giving me such a wonderful game and media series to write about!**

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**Chapter Nine**

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He dreamt of an empire.

His empire. It wasn't a far-fetched fantasy, not after three months of diligent work towards that very same goal. He was born to rule, he knew this, why else would he be gifted with such apt abilities where magic and leadership were concerned? He knew what he could be and, girded with his ample ambition and cunning, he'd set about to make his goals of leading vast lands a reality. It was almost finished, his work. He'd gained control of several regions, through either agreements of peace with binding terms in the fine print, or old-fashioned invasion and conquering. His imperialistic aims were challenged at first, but once he made good use of his growing resources to cultivate his newly conquered lands and bettered both the economy and standard of living in those places, his antagonists grew fewer and fewer in number. He was a visionary. At least in his own mind. He didn't plan to enslave, he just wanted to rule, to rule the whole world if he could. But he knew he could only push his limits so far before the do-gooders would pervert his intentions and claim him to be some sort of power-hungry tyrant and oust him from power. But his arduous labor was coming to fruition, he could see that now. His palace was finished, built on a hill just a little beyond the city. It was modest in size but grand enough for someone of his worth and stature, elegant but not ostentatious. His army was flourishing and had expanded to include not only the formidable Koopas, but units of humans and other mortals; an army in each province was his policy, ones that could convene into one super-powerful force once united. His empire was taking shape, he dreamt of it and now it was coming to be. He dreamt of his empire.

But he also dreamt of her.

There, in the corner of his palatial bedroom, standing near the wall and looking at him with such vicious fury. Her light eyes were full of hatred and fire and it startled him enough to wake up. He woke up confused; never had he seen that sort of look on her, so where was this dream coming from? Why was she present in his glorious future? And why was she so angry?

No matter.

He was never one to dwell on things that served no purpose, and dreams were merely the stuff of his subconscious. Perhaps, when he had more time, he'd analyze the significance of it, but during his waking hours he had to devote himself to work. What he was about to do next was nothing less than that.

Ludwig sighed and left his bed. He knew this had to be done, regardless of how trying an experience it would be. He could send one of his Koopas to deal with the situation, but the thought of one of them harming his younger sister wasn't an idea he was at all willing to entertain. The ex-enforcer crossed his room and stood in front of his mirror with his palms flat on the vanity. This wasn't his room, not really. He was still in the palace at the edge of the Badlands, near the Black Forest. He felt inexplicably drawn to this place, but he knew he'd be leaving it soon.

_My hair, _he thought idly as he gazed at his reflection.

His hair had gotten much longer and it was bone-straight now. An oddity indeed, but not one he could be bothered with. Magic, especially dark magic, worked in strange ways and its effects could not be predicted. He assumed this was the cause behind his long hair and the black streaks that highlighted his blue locks. His eyes were different as well; more vividly emerald in hue and with golden flecks within them. He knew who he resembled and could very well alter his appearance so that the resemblance was no more, yet he allowed this to go unchanged. He stood up and stretched, then yawned and with the action came a view of his open mouth; his teeth were sharp in the corners, like four dull, subtle fangs. He prodded at them for a moment with his little finger and shrugged it off. His body had been going through several changes as of late. He'd gotten a little more toned and muscular and his height had increased the tiniest bit. It made for longer strides down the hall like this morning as he headed to the guest room his sister occupied.

He knocked on her door against his better nature of just barging in since he did own the place now.

"Who is it?" Wendy asked as she got up to answer.

When she swung the door open and saw Ludwig her expression dampened and her shoulders dropped a bit. As time went on, their relationship continued to become more and more strained.

"Oh. It's you." She deadpanned. "Can I help you, Your Majesty?"

He told her just as flatly, "I need to talk to you."

"So talk."

Part of the king wanted to teleport into her room to make a statement against her petty attitude, to show her that he was older and superior and deserved more respect, but the part of him that didn't care and wanted to just get this interaction over with won out.

"I want you to spend less time in town," He stated, "and more time training."

Wendy turned up her nose immediately and folded her arms. Something inside Ludwig got real exasperated because he knew that was a telling sign that an argument was coming. He could just walk away and be done with it. He'd already issued his order, he came and said what he needed to. But something about her just agitated him to no end and he couldn't. He chalked it up to the fact that he couldn't stand insubordination.

"I don't want to train." She said simply.

Their arguments always started so simply.

"I didn't ask you what you wanted." Ludwig told her.

"Well you should've," Wendy retorted hotly, "It's _my_ body and _my_ powers."

"Who do you think gave you those powers?" Ludwig cut in sharply.

"Not _you_." She replied with her mouth twisted in a puckering frown.

"Don't be so sure," Ludwig told her quietly.

"I don't even know _how_ to train." Wendy said halfheartedly, rolling her eyes.

"Roy and Morton can help you," Ludwig said.

"I'm not working with them." Wendy stated with finality.

"This isn't up for debate." Ludwig said tiredly, "you're to go to the training room tomorrow and start working on strengthening your abilities."

Wendy scoffed and watched him leave down the hall, then slammed her door shut behind her.

"Whatever," She frowned. "If he thinks he can just barge in here and tell me what to do..."

The girl frowned tightly and balled her fists to her sides. She was growing to resent her older brother's controlling ways more and more. It was as if everything she said or did set him off. She could never live up to his expectations of her.

Wendy dressed in a pair of plain black pants that were only moderately tight and a plain red t-shirt that she'd snagged from her brother Larry. It fit her snugly, just the way she liked it. She gazed at the basketball on the front of her brother's shirt and thought of him. He was so young and energetic, he wanted to do nothing but play and have fun and yet it'd only be a matter of time before Ludwig would force him to start training as well, she predicted. That didn't sit well with her at all. If that was the case, who would be exempt? Certainly not Iggy since he was older, though she could see him doing imposing his rule on little Lemmy as well.

_Why can't he just leave us alone? _

At her vanity, Wendy pinned her hair sloppily behind her head and sprayed a light sheen of hair spray over it to make her blonde hair glow. She glanced down at her dresser and picked up a pair of lipstick tubes, choosing to coat her mouth with the lighter shade of the two pinks. For her wrists she grabbed her thin gold bracelets and slipped her feet into a pair of black sandals.

Probably because she was used to the route, it didn't take her long to get to that inn in the middle of the city. She kept silent and to her thoughts as she walked briskly. The girl was really peeved about what her brother had told her and thought that maybe a visit to her boyfriend would calm her down.

_I mean, we kissed. That technically means we're dating, _Wendy reasoned. _But my idiot older brothers don't need to know that. _

"Hey, Wen!" Munson called to her.

Wendy turned and saw him standing in the inn, his face nearly hidden except for a sliver because he had the door closed to a tiny crack. He peered through the slim opening in the door and beckoned her over. She frowned, confused, but made her way over to the entrance of the inn and he promptly pulled her inside. Then he shut the door behind them rapidly and kissed her on the mouth. The girl was caught unawares, but once she came to herself she shoved him away from her.

"What are you doing?" Wendy fumed.

Munson gazed at her and said smoothly, "Kissing you, Wen."

"You didn't even ask me if I wanted to be kissed!" She snapped.

He said wryly, "That would've ruined the surprise."

Wendy made a face and said, "Well you should know I don't like surprises, I like when people ask me what I want instead of just forcing something on me."

Munson looked a bit chagrined as he gazed at his fine leather boots. He pushed a hand through his dark hair and stared softly at Wendy through apologetic sea-colored eyes.

"I didn't mean to upset you," He spoke quietly, "I won't do that again. Next time I'll just ask first if that's what you want."

Wendy sighed and sat down on one of the lobby couches. She did, in fact, like his little greeting now that she was considering it in retrospect. It was a light peck, that's all. The gesture was sweet and sort of romantic and made her blush a little. She was glad to see him and could see he felt the same way.

_So why am I taking my frustration out on him? _

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"For what?" Munson asked

"I didn't mean to fuss at you," She explained, then admitted, "I just feel kinda irritated right now. My brother's getting on my nerves."

"The crazy one or the prick?"

"Don't call them that," Wendy chided. "I'm talking about my oldest brother. You met him first."

"Ah, him." Munson hummed.

He came to sit beside Wendy on the couch and put an arm around her shoulders. She flinched at first, then relaxed under him.

"What happened?" Munson wanted to know.

"He's trying to make me train like my brothers and I don't want to." Wendy stated without thinking twice.

Munson asked, "Train like your brothers? Like how?"

"It's not important," She dismissed, "The point is, I told him I don't want to but he acts as if he's some kind of god and his word is law."

"Eh, well, he's king so it kinda' is." Munson shrugged.

He wasn't too thrilled to give that one to Ludwig but it was true. Wendy, on the other hand, didn't say much more in detail because she'd not yet told Munson of her special abilities.

"I know why he's making me do this though," Wendy announced. "He doesn't like me seeing you."

She turned to Munson and expected to see a smirk or some sign of agreement in his eyes or face, but she was met with an expression of pensive thought and rare maturity.

In a low voice, Munson said, "To be perfectly honest, I don't blame him."

"What?" Wendy frowned.

Munson laughed, a short dry and humorless laugh it was. His faux smile died soon after the noise did and he gazed at his shoes again.

"I'm really no good for you." He muttered.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"No tell me!"

Munson sighed and changed the subject, asking, "Does he know you're here?"

"No." Wendy replied with a frown.

"Then you'd better get back before he sends that brutish brother of yours to fetch you."

"So let him." Wendy shrugged.

Munson leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Please go back," He entreated, "Your brothers scare me. But don't tell them I said that."

* * *

After several months of being in Luigi's hometown, Daisy now understood how people here were so well-fed: food was the most accessible commodity in this world. It was much more affordable than clothes, shoes, or electronics. And the vendors that sold food were more prevalent, what with there being a merchant of golden arches on almost every block. The food here ranged from coarse and cheap to expensive and gourmet, much like in her own kingdom. She couldn't help but find delight in those items she probably ought not indulge in, like the famed buffalo wings she was eating at the moment. The side order of vanilla ice cream probably wasn't the most sensible choice either, but she'd never tasted a combination so delicious.

She knew she had to moderate her eating habits, however, lest she end up with a figure similar to that of her Aunt Miggory's. At that thought, she wondered about her cousins and if they were doing well. She missed them, but she knew they were more than safe and protected within the walls of the Mushroom Kingdom.

_I really should be more careful about what I eat, though, _the girl mused.

She sat with her bowl of ice cream and her paper plate of wings in front of the television and prepared for another long night alone. She loved her life. She loved working and meeting new and interesting people downtown. She especially loved getting to know all about the world Luigi came from. And of course she loved spending as much time as she could with him, though she wished she had more than just the weekends to have him to herself.

_I guess it can't be helped; living expenses aren't cheap here, _She noted.

Flipping through the stations was a thing of the past since she'd memorized her favorite station number by heart. She turned on the music channel and grinned when a song she liked was playing. Unfortunately, it was almost over. She danced a lot more often now, and she was pleased to find that she had most of the moves down from a lot of different videos. She still didn't know if she'd ever show Luigi those moves. In fact, she grinned at the thought.

_He's so shy. No, no shy, just...I don't know. Clean? _

She knew the dances she did and the songs she listened to were anything but and chuckled a little at the thought of him ever hearing them. She knew he'd blush at least.

_Or maybe not; maybe he's already heard them and seen them before, _she pondered.

If he had, he wasn't influenced by them from what she could see. He hadn't touched her at all since they'd been together in his apartment.

_Well, he does kiss me and hold me, but he's so chaste with it. _

She wanted him to touch her the way she saw couples did in movies and on reality television shows. Well, maybe not so much the latter, but she definitely longed for more in their relationship. But she didn't want to have to make the first move, either. She wanted him to, but she didn't know how to let him know that.

_I've seen girls on tv get a guy's attention to take things to the, ah, what was it? 'Next level'? I wonder...maybe I should just do what they do._

It was on movies and television for a reason, right? It wouldn't be there if it didn't work, or at least that's what Daisy thought. She resolved that night to start taking pointers from the leading ladies of prime time tv and hopefully, Luigi would get the message.

_I could just talk to him, _she suddenly realized. But then she thought back to how he reacted to her whenever she dropped a bomb of a topic on him, and how his expression had gotten so anxious when she was outside of that underwear store. She shook her head to herself, knowing she couldn't approach him directly. Not with this. She wanted to try and be a bit subtle.

_But not too subtle; I don't want it to go over his head, _she thought.

Daisy tilted her head and looked at her bowl of ice cream contemplatively. She had an idea of where to start in her new mission, and knew that a trip to her favorite mall was in order.

* * *

His spying skills were sure coming in handy as of late. This afternoon Lemmy had taken a nap with his friend and playmate but upon waking, Junior was nowhere to be found. To a child that had a subconscious fear of having the people he loved leave and never come back, this had been a serious cause for alarm. Thus Lemmy had risen and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and set out to find his missing companion. He hadn't had to search long before he found Bowser Junior standing at the end of the hall, muttering to himself. Lemmy knew the boy was most likely speaking with his father again, though he still didn't know how that worked. He had almost made up his mind to approach the younger child and ask him what was going on, but at that moment Junior began hurrying down the hall with purpose. That's when Lemmy figured he'd better stay a shadow's distance away; Junior was a mysterious child, Lemmy had deduced so far, and the seven-year-old was quite curious about where he was going now.

Past the throne room he trailed the former Crown Prince and made sure to tread lightly so as not to be discovered. That was highly unlikely to happen since Junior was so engrossed in getting to wherever his destination was. He headed not to the training room, but to a room Lemmy had never known existed, one that was right across from the training room. Now Lemmy was especially interested. He followed Junior and slipped past the heavy door, forgoing the stairs behind the door and instead going to the right.

_What is this place? _

The children stopped at the door as an array of scents assaulted them. At least five or six different perfumes were wafting through the air and none of them made for a pleasant combination. The large room had no furniture besides a handful of small wooden tables with bowls of sweets in them, and a few crates with personal belongings spread out near individual corners. There was bedding all over the floor, soft silk quilts of crimson and teal and gold that sank under the little boys' bare feet. Pillows, large and fancy with red trim and gold tassels, were also everywhere. Lounging about or sleeping were young human women, dressed alike in sparse cloth underwear and a sheer material that served as a shirt, one that ended under the bust, and loose harem pants. The girls were all blonde, no more than twenty or thirty, and had light blue eyes. The pink color of their garments and makeup highlighted their softness and the gold bangles and earrings seemed wasted on an audience that hadn't been present in months.

"B-Jun?" Lemmy spoke hesitantly.

Said child faced his friend and looked surprised.

"What you doing here?" Junior asked curiously.

Lemmy shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, I was following behind you."

"Oh," Junior remarked, "I came here because I was trying to come to my Daddy."

"He's here?" Lemmy exclaimed.

"I think he is," Junior vacillated, "But I'm not all the way sure because I can't even see him nowhere."

"Oh." Lemmy said. "Maybe Ludwig knows where he is."

"Yeah, but 'cept my Daddy don't even like him much." Junior reminded him. "He don't want me to talk to him."

"Oh yeah, I remember." Lemmy nodded, "I think we need to look around to find your daddy, then we might see him."

"Kay." Junior acceded.

So the two children took hands and meandered through the mess of mauve pillows and slumbering women. Twice they tripped and righted themselves without anyone making any sort of fuss. The women who were awake were somewhat curious when they saw the children, but they couldn't bring themselves to care, really. Most of them weren't all there in the mind, not anymore.

"How come your Daddy had this room?" Lemmy frowned, "With all these grown up ladies?"

"I don't know," Junior replied. "I think he-"

"What are you doing here?"

Both boys stopped to regard the woman who'd impeded them. She stood tall, quite tall, with impossibly long red hair and a mess of light-colored freckles and dark eyes that seemed deep enough to drown in if one stared long enough. The young woman had a fine red brow arched to high heaven with her hands on her hips. She regarded the two children with a mixture of amusement and faint sadness and then apprehension. Lemmy thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Junior thought he'd seen her before.

"How did you get down here?" She asked.

Junior's father was telling him something, telling him not to speak to this girl and so the boy promptly stuck his thumb in his mouth and stood behind Lemmy. Lemmy, who was utterly entranced at this girl, who stood out amongst her blonde counterparts, spoke readily.

"We came down here because we was looking for-" Lemmy stopped.

Junior tugged his hand and was shaking his head subtly again. Lemmy knew full well what that meant and quieted.

The redhead cocked her brow even higher and said, "Junior? Little prince, is that you?"

Junior regarded her blankly from behind Lemmy's shoulder.

"I never thought I'd see _you_ again," She admitted in a near-whisper.

"Who are you?" Lemmy wanted to know.

"It doesn't matter," She answered, "Come with me."

She led them to the door and showed them out of the harem they hadn't known they'd wandered innocuously into.

"Don't ever come back in here," She warned.

"Why?" Lemmy asked.

"Because this isn't a place for children." She said carefully.

"It's a place for very pretty grown ladies?" He surmised.

"...right." She answered reluctantly.

She honestly didn't know what to make of their impromptu appearance, and could only wonder at what it could possibly mean for her future.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is having a great week :) **

**I think you know who she was, that redhead, lol. Anyway, let me know what you think of this story thus far please! Your input is so precious to me, each and every review is great! **

**Until next chapter!**

**~DymondGold~**


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